Not the Way We Planned It
by SkyyRyder
Summary: COMPLETED x A bet with best friend, Aaron Abbott, goes astray for Hailey Gregory. Will it come back to bite her in the ass? TylerxOC
1. The Bet

**So I got another idea, what a surprise… I actually was going to have this start out completely different. But then I thought this up and liked it better… muahahaha. **

* * *

**Not the Way We Planned It**

**By Skyy Ryder**

_Chapter 1 – The Bet _

"You break," A voice engulfed her ears. The young girl looked up at her friend a wicked grin slipping gracefully on to her lips as she fondled the pool cue in her hands.

"You're asking for it," The girl responded with a lazy shrug. "I say we make the stakes a little more interesting…" She conjured while eyeing her shot carefully.

"How so?" Her opponent questioned.

"Since I'm tired of winning your money…" She grinned her jade green eyes focused diligently on the white cue ball connecting with the perfect triangle of balls. "I think a small bet is in order." She grinned her eyes scanning over the bar as she glanced over at the brunette.

"A bet…" Her opponent grinned sheepishly. "You're on babe," He grinned.

"Alright, if I win… or should I say when I win…" She pursed her lips together. "You have to tell Kira… about us…" She smirked letting her naturally long finger nails rake over his tanned arm.

The brunette eyed her and then nodded his head, his eyes settled on a few teenaged boys walking through the doors of the bar, "Alright, and if I win…" He stopped seeing her attention divert to the four boys that stepped through the threshold. He noticed her sudden lack of attention on him. He got a brilliant idea. "You have to make one of them, fall for you…"

"And?" She asked glancing up to meet his blue eyes.

"Cause one of those boys more pain than they have ever experienced…" He grinned.

"Aaron you're a cynical bastard…" She looked at him with a small grin on her face.

"Oh c'mon Hails, I do believe it was Reid Garwin who made a fool of you after he 'dated' and 'dumped' you…" The boy reminded her. "Before I came and picked up the pieces…" he whispered in her ear haughtily.

"Fine," She agreed nodding her head. "Garwin then?" She asked looking at the blonde that was eyeing the tables and her.

"No, he's too easy to get close to…" The brunette boy stated leaning behind her provocatively. "I think baby boy would be a good bet…"

"Tyler Simms?" She asked skeptically. Her eyes darted to the youngest of the four, legendary, Sons of Ipswich. He was handsome no doubt about that, dark brown hair, vibrant blue eyes and a killer smile, she noted. "You're on Abbott…" She grinned leaning over the table to take her next shot.

The game had been pretty even until the end; Aaron missed his shot on the eight ball and Hailey had one ball left to get in, she aligned her shot and sunk her ball. She paused for a moment taking in the eight ball that was in a very precarious position on the felt of the pool table.

She could feel Aaron's intense blue eyes on her and she groaned lowly lifting up to calm her nerves. This would either be her beginning or her end. She glanced over at Aaron who was waiting impatiently for her to take her shot; her eyes then gazed over to the brunette Son of Ipswich whom she would have to woe if she lost.

_But you're not going to lose._ She told herself as she tried to figure a way to get the little black ball in to one of the pockets. She gave Aaron a small smile and found a good angle.

"Eight ball corner left pocket…" She grinned taking her shot.

She hit the eight ball expertly; the ball seemed to roll in slow motion towards the left corner pocket. The smile on her face grew as the ball inched closer, Aaron's face fell, though he found the stakes of their bet win, win situation for him.

He was tired of Kira and hoped that he could get rid of her, though seeing the demise of one of the Sons of Ipswich would be great as well. But he wasn't sure exactly how the bet would pan out. If all things worked out like he would hope Hailey would rope in Tyler Simms and then break him down. Worse case scenario, Tyler Simms would shun her because of who she hung out with.

He watched as the smile on Hailey's face disappeared, the little black ball fell a few inches short of the left corner pocket. His jaw dropped slightly bemused by what just happened. He had won. He called the left pocket, tapped the ball in and did a small victory dance.

"Shit," Hailey cursed putting her pool stick up.

"You should get started Hails," Aaron hinted as he shoved her towards the bar.

Hailey's eyes darted up and Tyler was leaning against the bar casually ordering some drinks from the owner, Nicky. She glared at Aaron as she walked self-consciously over to the bar. She leaned in next to the blue eyed brunette and grabbed Nicky's attention.

"Two cokes please, Nicky…" She tossed a smile at Tyler who raised an eyebrow at her. "Hey Tyler…" She stated as if her talking to him were the most natural thing in the world.

"Hailey," He nodded shyly.

"How are you?" She asked casually as they both waited for their drinks.

"Um, I'm ok… thanks… you?" He asked as Nicky brought over their sodas.

"Better now," She gave him a small wink before grabbing her drinks and walking back to the pool table.

She could feel a pair of eyes watching her intently, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Tyler leaning against the bar watching her carefully. He looked perplexed; though Hailey couldn't blame him.

Hailey Gregory and the Sons of Ipswich were really never on the same page. She had never said more than a casual hello or asking to borrow a pencil from one of them during class. That was until she fell under Reid Garwin's magic spell, at least that what she claimed.

There was no other way that she would have agreed to bed him otherwise. Sure he was good looking, blonde hair, blue eyes, and that smirk. I was enough to drive any sane person over the brink. There was something about him though that she never liked, it couldn't be the arrogance, or the cockiness. She was used to that with Aaron Abbott as a friend, no it was something else.

It was something that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

She returned to the high top that Aaron was now residing at placing his coke in front of him as she gave him a small smirk, "Looks like you've already got him interested…" Aaron stated playing with the straw in his drink.

"Or suspicious…" Hailey countered.

* * *

**Please Remember to R&R!**


	2. Dating Pool

**I'm glad everyone is liking this one... my sudden spurt of inspiration... enjoy!**

* * *

_**Chapter 2 – Dating Pool**_

"Took you long enough," Reid complained as Tyler came back with four cokes.

"Was that Hailey Gregory that was talking to you?" The dark haired teenager asked glancing up at Tyler who took his own drink and sat down next to his best friend.

Tyler still had a very confused look on his face, "Yeah," he nodded.

"Hailey Gregory," Reid let her name roll off of his tongue expertly. "Purple Satin," he remarked coolly.

"What?" The long haired teen across from him asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Tyler groaned, "Reid keeps track of what girls he's messed around with by the kind of underwear they wore when he finally got some…"

"Like I said, Purple Satin…" The blonde grinned menacingly.

"You slept with Hailey Gregory?" Their dark haired friend asked.

"Don't you remember when I _dumped _her right in front of Aaron and Kira?" Reid smirked, tossing a glance at his best friend who was still looking very confused.

"I remember that, c'mon Caleb even you aren't that oblivious…" Pogue pointed out his hazel eyes darting over to the dark haired girl that was sitting across a table from Aaron Abbott.

"Last year?" Caleb questioned trying to rack his brain.

"Yeah, right before English Comp…" He nodded his head. "It was pathetic…"

"Well not everyone can be as cold as you, Reid…" The leader perked up making the blonde smirk even larger.

"Don't fee his ego, Caleb…" Pogue shook his head.

"Yo, Ty… w hat's wrong?" Reid asked bumping his bony shoulder in to his best friend's.

"Nothing, just thinking…" Tyler shook his head and glanced over at the brunette again.

"About Hailey?" Reid asked in a questioning tone, noticing that his friend had looked at the girl about ten times since returning back to the table.

"Yeah," He looked back at the blonde next to him. "She flirted with me…" His brows rose as he spoke.

"Hailey Gregory… flirted, with baby boy?" Caleb asked confused. "She's like the quiet girl that you don't even know exist in class…" He pointed across the room.

"She slept with Reid…" Pogue pointed out.

"We all have our downfalls…" Caleb quipped with a snort.

"It took me a month to get her in bed…" Reid pointed out.

"No wonder she broke down in hysterics…" Pogue rolled his eyes. "You are a cynical man Reid Garwin…" His friend accused.

"Why thank you…" Reid smirked proudly.

Tyler rolled his dark blue eyes at the boy sitting next to him. He would do anything to score with some of the most impossible girls. Tyler was sure if Reid could find a loop hole where he could sleep with Sarah and Kate and still be friends with Pogue and Caleb, he would do it… just so he could say he did.

His gaze settled back to Hailey Gregory, there was no doubt in his mind that she was an attractive girl. She wasn't some bleach blonde girl that Reid would get his rocks off to normally; she was smart, and intellectual. The last statement, Tyler found, could be contradicting seeing as how she hung out with the likes of Aaron Abbott.

He watched her carefully as she smacked Aaron on the arm, her laughter filling the air as a mischievous smirk formed on Aaron's face. Tyler shook his thoughts and looked back at his friends, he was reading way too much in to what she had said and done.

Aaron smirked at Hailey his blue eyes wandered over to the table where the Sons of Ipswich sat, he noticed the youngest, Tyler was staring over in their direction. He lifted his eyes to meet Hailey's green ones and she gave him a questioning look.

"Simms is staring over here…" He stated casually.

"Oh really?"

Without another thought she let out a believable laugh, a small smirk crept on to Aaron's face as her long fingernails fell on to his arm; a small sign of affection as she let her hand rest on his arm.

"You've really got him thinking now…" Aaron whispered across the table. "He looks like his brain is about to implode…" He grinned.

Just as Hailey turned in her seat to take a look at the youngest Son of Ipswich, he turned around to face Caleb Danvers, the eldest and the unannounced leader of the Sons. She noticed them ribbing the younger boy, the blonde next to him casted a glance in their direction. She watched as he licked his lips surveying her toned legs, which were hanging over the side of the high barstool chair.

"You have someone else's attention too…" He stated in an annoyed voice.

There were two Sons' that always got under Aaron's skin, and they didn't even have to try.

Caleb Danvers, or Mr. Perfect, as Aaron promptly called him. Aaron hated Caleb because he did everything Aaron could do, but better. He had a perfect 4.0 grade point average, the perfect blonde girlfriend, a scholarship to Harvard, and he was the best freestyle swimmer in the state.

And then Reid Garwin, because Reid was rebellious, didn't care about rules and screwed anything that flaunted her ass his way. It was something Aaron tried to be on top of a good student, but the two personality types just did not work out together.

The exact reason for Caleb and Reid's constant fighting. They were at two ends of the spectrum; polar opposites.

"Why do you let them get to you Aaron?" Hailey questioned.

"I don't let them get to me," Aaron mused getting up from his seat.

"That's bull and you know it…" She laughed following his lead. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you had a man-crush on them…" She grinned as he grabbed her hand forcefully.

"It's a damn good thing you know better then, huh?" Aaron remarked pulling her to the dance floor.

"You don't dance…" She stated glancing up at him as he let her body fall hard against his.

"I do tonight…" He gave her a charming smile and she laughed. She enjoyed their closeness until it was rudely interrupted by a persistent pain in the ass named Kira Snider.

"Jesus Aaron, I let you out of my sight for an hour and you're dancing around with this whore?"

If there was any word in the dictionary that described Hailey, it was not whore. That the three of them knew, but Kira hated Hailey with a pure passion. She was the one thing that kept Aaron from being hers, completely.

"Give it a rest Kira…" Hailey rolled her eyes at the red head. "Besides I was just leaving…" She stated giving Aaron a wicked grin.

"I'll call you…" Aaron stated as Kira grabbed him around the waist.

Hailey gave him a slight nod, shooting Kira a nasty glare as she purposely headed towards the door, making sure to walk right past the table that held the four Sons of Ipswich. She came up and noticed Tyler was looking around, what for she wasn't sure, but he caught her line of sight and he blushed furiously.

"G'night Tyler…" She gave him a wink before sauntering out the front door.

"Dude, what are you doing sitting here… go…" Pogue stated looking at his friend.

"She wants you…" Caleb agreed nodding his head as the brunette looked at the blonde next to him.

"It's your funeral man…" Reid smirked evilly as Tyler stood up and walked out the front door of Nicky's.

Tyler walked out of the front door and saw Hailey getting the keys out to her blue Ford Explorer. Tyler picked up his pace and called out her name. Hailey stopped and looked around spotting the blue-eyed brunette that was walking over to her.

She felt her heart thumping in her chest, she hadn't expected him to follow her out here, and she was just flirting with him a bit to get her plan underway. A plan that she hadn't even made yet.

"Hailey, hey…" He sounded a bit out of breath.

"Tyler… what's up?" She asked.

The boy's cheeks turned pink, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and gave her a small smile, "I was just wondering where you were headed…" He fumbled for his words slightly.

Hailey looked around and then at him, "I was planning on going back to the dorms…" She shrugged.

Tyler nodded his head and looked around, "Would you mind giving me a lift back, the guys aren't ready to head back yet…" the boy trailed off.

"Sure, get in…" She nodded her head to the passenger's side.

Tyler gave her a killer smile and walked back around the car; Hailey pulled her door open and took a deep breath. This was going to be easier than she thought it would be.

Tyler pulled himself up in to her truck and felt the keys in his left pocket jingle, Reid would just have to Use to get the Hummer to start. H e could really careless how the blonde got home later that night. Hailey got in and put her keys in the ignition.

"Don't you usually drive?" She asked him pulling out of her parking spot.

"I did, but Reid always ends up stealing my keys…" He shrugged his shoulders, obviously lying by the tint of pink his ears were turning.

"I see," Hailey nodded pulling off on to the road that would bring them back to Spencer Academy.

"So you and Aaron?" He asked casually trying to start conversation.

"Aaron and I, what?' She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Are you… together?" He questioned.

Hailey let out a small laugh, "No…" She shook her head. "We're just really good friends…"

"So you're single?" He asked shifting his weight in the passenger's seat.

"That I am…" She nodded her head turned left on to the main road.

"Why is that?" The blue eyed boy asked her curiously.

"You sure ask a lot of questions, Tyler…" She observed pulling in to the dorm parking lot.

He blushed furiously and looked down at his hands, "Sorry…" He grunted looking up and catching her giving him a long stare.

"It's ok… I don't mind…" She shrugged parking the vehicle. "I find it slightly intriguing…" She pulled her keys out of the ignition and they both piled out of the car.

They were quiet until they reached the second floor, the floor that Hailey stayed on.

"But to answer your question," She paused opening the door as he was about to ascend the next flight of stairs to the third floor. "I don't see a lot of prospects in the Spencer dating pool…" She gave him a small grin and looked back. "Until now…" She stated with a small smile before walking to her room with a confident stride.

* * *

**Please remember to R&R!**


	3. Dumbstruck

**I'm glad you're all enjoying this story so far. This chapter is a bit longer than the other two... but I'm sure you won't mind... ;)**

_**

* * *

**_

**_Chapter 3 - Dumbstruck_**

The next day rolled around and Hailey found herself on the receiving end of Kira Snider's bitching and moaning. She was going on and on about how Aaron was her man and that Hailey needed to back off. Hailey simply brushed her off and rolled her eyes entering her American Literature class.

Hailey noticed Reid and Tyler sitting on their desks talking to one another and Aaron one row above them looking as though he was about to nod off in to dreamland again. She ascended the stairs quickly blazing by Reid and Tyler and to Aaron.

"Your girlfriend is really getting on my nerves…" She stated letting her bag slide out of her possession and on to the floor.

"She isn't my girlfriend…" Aaron replied not bothering to open his eyes.

"Aaron, please… you and I both know that if Kira had it her way you'd be serving her breakfast in bed every day in a speedo…." Hailey grinned plopping down next to the curly-haired brunette.

"So, I heard the youngest Son of Ipswich left with a very pretty brunette last night…" He stated leaning forward, his blue eyes opening for the first time.

"Good news travels fast," Hailey commented her green eyes slowly lurking over to the handsome brunette she had driven home the night previous.

"Surprised me really…" Aaron remarked letting his arms fold on top of the wooden desk.

"Why because I'm winning this bet faster than you thought?" Hailey smiled over at him.

"No, with him… he usually doesn't go after girls… always thought Simms was a bit queer…" Aaron shrugged his shoulders.

"Tyler Simms is way too good looking to be queer…." Hailey announced, her gaze once again drifting over to the blue-eyed brunette and his blonde friend.

"Since when do you think that Simms is good looking?" Aaron raised an eyebrow in question.

"I never said he wasn't… hell all four of the Sons of Ipswich are good looking… there's no denying that…" Hailey felt Aaron's arm slip around her shoulders as he leaned in to her. Tyler was glancing back at them, as was Reid. "How am I supposed to finish the bet if you're hanging all over me all the time?" Hailey asked him.

"Making it a bit more challenging for you, it looks like this is going to be too easy…" He smirked tossing a glare in Reid and Tyler's direction.

"Don't be a prick Aaron," She nudged him in the ribs with a very bony elbow.

Aaron rolled his eyes as he let his arm slide off of her shoulders, "Would it kill you to believe that I'm just showing my affection for you?" He asked her carefully.

"No, because if you were you wouldn't have made this stupid bet…." Hailey quipped giving him a strange look.

"You're right," Aaron nodded opening up his book.

Hailey groaned as the instructor walked in the room, h is hands full of books and papers. Professor Graham was always late for his own class; it was quite amusing to his students. Hailey found her self disregarding most of the lecture, she spent a good amount of the last hour staring at Tyler Simms, and figuring out how she was going to do this.

She had figured she would toy with him a bit, harmless flirting to get him hooked, Aaron said he just had to fall for her, so did that mean she just had to get him to ask her out? Or did that mean that she had to make him head over heels in love with her? She wasn't quite sure.

Tearing a sheet of paper out of her notebook she quickly jotted a note to the blue-eyed cutie next to her. She shoved the paper in front of his nose and he let his eyes linger forward to read the note, a small smirk appearing on his lips as she raised her eyebrows waiting for his answer.

He picked up his pen and wrote something down, sliding the paper back over to her.

Before she could read the piece of paper the bell rang, Aaron grabbed the paper and crumbled it up. He stood up and grabbed his things; he leaned down next to her ear and whispered to her.

"He needs to be completely in love with you," He paused. "I'm talking can't eat, can't sleep… follows you around like a lost puppy and anything you want in a blink of an eye kind of love…"

With that Aaron took the stairs two at a time leaving her in her seat looking a bit dumbfounded. How the hell was she supposed to make a boy fall in love with her, how was she going to know when he was in love with her?

She let her eyes linger down towards the main floor of the room, he was laughing at something Reid was saying to him, his blue eyes shining in the fluorescent lighting of the room. His gaze rested up on her and a smile spread across his features, he gave her a small wave.

Hailey felt the smile tugging at her lips, she gave him a small nod, snapping out of her daze she gathered her things and descended down the stairs in a hurry. She brushed past the rest of the class that was fighting for the door.

"Hailey," She recognized his voice without question.

She turned slightly to see him say something quickly to Reid and then jog to catch up with her, his cheeks a bit flushed from the sudden attention he had grabbed. She gave him a warm smile and felt a small fluttering feeling in the very pit of her stomach.

"Tyler, hey…" She looked down at her black ballet shoes.

"You have AP Government next, right?" He asked her

"Yeah," She nodded to him.

"Can I walk you to class?" He asked his tone hopeful.

"Sure, I'd like that…" She gave him a small grin before he took her books from her and stopped with her at her locker.

Tyler handed her the books, and as she swapped them out he took them back. She gave him a sideways glance and raised her eyebrow at him.

"I can carry my books you know…" She stated shutting her locker.

"I know, but what kind of gentleman would I be if I made you carry your own books?" He questioned.

Hailey didn't say anything she just held on to her book bag and nodded her head, letting Tyler walk her to the class that they shared together. Aaron didn't share this class with her, and she figured it'd be a good time to start getting in good with Tyler.

"You want to sit with me?" Tyler asked.

"Um, sure… but don't you usually sit with Reid?" She asked skeptically.

"He can sit with us, if you don't mind?" Tyler offered leading her up to the third row where he normally sat with Reid Garwin.

"No, not at all…" She gave him a polite smile.

"What's this?" Reid asked coming in moments later noticing that Tyler was sitting next to Hailey talking about something he couldn't quite make out.

"Hey man," Tyler grinned at him. "Hailey's gonna sit with us… that cool?" He asked giving his best friend a convincing smile.

"Sure man whatever," Reid stated coming behind Hailey to get to his seat. He leaned down to whisper to her so Tyler couldn't here, "If I would have known you'd end up looking like this over the Summer I wouldn't have dumped you…" He smirked to himself before taking the seat next to Tyler.

Hailey's jaw dropped and she shot Reid a nasty glare. Why had she been stupid enough to fall for his charm? She could have said no when he asked her out last year, but no… her stupid hormones had other plans.

She looked from Tyler to Reid and wondered how the two boys were friends; Tyler was sweet and caring, where as Reid was cynical and selfish. How the two were so close was beyond her.

"So, what do you think Hailey?" Tyler asked tearing her out of her thoughts.

"That sounds great…." She agreed subconsciously. She gaze him a worried glance, she was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't bothered to listen to anything he had just said.

"Great, so I'll pick you up at eight tonight?" He asked her.

_Did he just ask me out?_ She questioned looking up at him, her eyes wide. Tyler let out a small chuckle and shook his head.

"So you weren't listening to me after all…" He grinned shaking his head.

She felt a blush rise on her cheeks as she situated through her homework from Government, "I'm sorry, Tyler, I was just thinking…" She stated feeling a bit stupid.

"It's ok… you looked like you were in la-la land…." He grinned at her. "I was just testing you…."

That smile, it was completely irresistible. She gave him a sheepish smile and felt her cheeks get hot.

"Maybe she'll give it up to you a little quicker than she did with me Ty…" Reid quipped from behind the two.

"Reid," Tyler turned and gave his friend a short, pointed glare.

"What?" Reid asked with an innocent smile. "Perhaps she'll wear those sexy purple satin panties…" He grinned licking his lips and sending her a wink.

Hailey's lip curled in to a snarl as she gave Reid a disgusted glance, "I must have been crazy to date you, and I plead insanity…" She mumbled loudly enough for Tyler and Reid to hear.

Tyler laughed and gave his friend a shrug. He leaned forward ignoring Reid and changing the subject with Hailey. He whispered an apology about his blonde comrade as the teacher walked in, Hailey laughed and shook her head, accepting the apology but letting him know that she knew better about Reid Garwin.

The class slowly rolled on and the AP Government class was assigned a project. The Professor paired up Hailey, Reid and Tyler, much to Hailey's dismay. She wanted nothing to do with the blonde wonder, that is, nothing except for his best friend.

"So should we meet up tonight to start on the project?" Tyler asked as the bell rang.

"God Tyler, you make me sick…" Reid uttered as he grabbed his bag, slinging it nonchalantly over his shoulder. "Just some lame excuse to get Hails in your bed…" He gave the girl a wicked grin, before his pale blue eyes set on a buxom red head that had just walked by.

"Don't call me that," Hailey gave Reid a sharp look.

"Now now… don't get defensive sweetheart…" Reid gave her an arrogant smirk. "You two go ahead and get a jump start on the project… I've got my own project to work on…" He grinned taking off after the red head.

Hailey watched as he suavely let his arm curl around the girl's middle that same smirk never leaving his face as he worked his Garwin Charm. She felt her stomach flip as Tyler's hand touched her elbow, she turned to him and he was giving her a 1,000 watt smile.

"So, does that sound ok to you?" Tyler asked.

"What about Reid?" She asked jabbing her thumb in the direction the blonde had just fled.

"I'm used to picking up his slack…" Tyler shrugged his shoulders.

"Why?" Hailey asked.

"Why, what?" Tyler questioned as they head back towards their lockers.

"Why do you put up with him?" Hailey questioned watching Tyler hand her the books from AP Government, as she finished the combination on her locker.

"He's my best friend…" Tyler shrugged leaning up against the cold metal lockers. "Wouldn't you do the same for Aaron?"

Hailey stopped and looked at her book she was pulling out and sighed, he was right, she usually picked up Aaron's slack when he decided to be rebellious, she nodded her head. "Point taken…" She glanced at him.

She pulled out a note book and her Physics book and shoved them both in to her messenger bag. She glanced over at Tyler and noticed he hadn't gone to his locker; she pursed her lips together in thought and noticed the book bag hanging off his shoulder.

"Carry all your books around?" She asked him.

"Only when I escort pretty women around…" He gave her a sheepish grin.

"I see so do you escort these pretty women around frequently?" Hailey asked shutting her locker and leaning against it.

Tyler let his eyes linger over her for a moment and then responded without thinking, "Why do you ask?"

"I need to know if I should be jealous or not…" She pushed herself off of the lockers and started walking towards her next class.

Tyler's blue eyes fell on her again, the way she walked, her skirt flirted dangerously low and bounced around her curves. He noticed her glance over her shoulder and Tyler felt a sudden urge to run after her. Before he could argue with himself he pushed against the lockers and jogged to catch up wither, letting his arm rest around her shoulders carefully.

"No need to be jealous," He answered. "You're the only pretty woman I'll be escorting around…" His response was easy, not thought out or planned, it was almost natural.

Hailey took in his profile from her peripheral and found that he was a bit flushed, but not as he normally was when one of the usual Ipswich groupies was hounding him. He seemed, almost, comfortable.

"Awe, babe… you're making me jealous…" Aaron's voice interrupted their quiet stride to class.

Hailey let out a heavy sigh and turned to her right seeing Aaron leaning coolly against his locker. She gave him a look that read 'Cut it out, or else.' But Aaron seemed to ignore it.

"Simms is making a move on my girl, huh?" Aaron asked rocking his neck from one side to the other, a few distinct cracks could be heard.

"Aaron, stop…" Hailey slid from under Tyler's arm and glared at the curly haired brunette boy.

"I'm just having a little fun Hails, no need to get your panties in a knot…" He grinned stupidly at her, sending her a wink.

"Look Aaron, I know you're Hailey's friend and all but she's my friend too…" Tyler stated his fast showing that he was getting flustered.

"Not so tough without your other Fags of Ipswich are you?" Aaron asked getting in to Tyler's face.

"Aaron," Hailey warned.

"It's ok Hailey…" Tyler stated holding up his hand. "Let'em say what he wants… it doesn't bother me…" Tyler shook his head. "I'm not going to stoop down to your level of stupidity Aaron, so don't play with me…" Tyler shot back.

"Oh a big boy now…" Aaron pushed.

"Aaron that's enough…" Hailey stated pushing the brunette boy back.

"Alright, fine…" Aaron pressed his lips together tightly and glared at Tyler. "Watch yourself Simms,"

Hailey pushed Aaron back and shot him a nasty glare before grabbing Tyler by the hand and pulling him towards their Physics class. She saw the look on his face, his cheeks red and his eyes dark, he was not in a good mood.

"I'm sorry about Aaron; he can be a real pain in the ass…" She stated softly as they walked in to class. "I don't know what's gotten in to him lately…" She shook her head.

"Does he think you belong to him or something?" Tyler asked in a deep, low voice.

His tone caught Hailey off guard she was not expecting for that voice to have such an effect on her, but it did. She felt goose bumps travel up her arms, immediately rubbing her palms over the clothed skin she turned and gave him a small smile.

"Lately I've been asking myself the same questions, but it's only if he sees me around other guys… it's weird…" She shook her head.

"He likes you," Tyler stated finally.

"Aaron?" Hailey asked her mouth fallin open shortly. "Like me?" This was followed by a subtle laugh.

"Seriously," Tyler nodded his head pulling out her chair for her.

Hailey looked at the chair as if it were a foreign object; she had never been treated like this before. It was new, and she liked it. She slowly took a seat and looked up in to his blue eyes as he maneuvered around her chair and fell in to his.

"Thank you," The words fell out of her mouth before she could think clearly.

"You're welcome…" He stated raising his eyebrow at her questioningly. She continued to stare at him and then back at the chair and shook her head. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

"N-Nothing…" She answered with a nervous smile.

"You sure?" He questioned sticking a pencil behind his ear.

"Yeah, I'm ok…" She gave him a reassuring grin before pulling out her things.

By the end of the day Tyler and Hailey were close, she thought it was unbelievable how he had sort of brushed off his friends to sit with her during class, walk her to all of her classes and even stood up to Aaron in front of her. It was amazing.

The only time they didn't spend together was during lunch, but their crowds were different. She hung out with Aaron Abbott, Ryan Bael, and Brody Jennings, while he hung out with the rest of the Sons and their girlfriends. She was pulling her books out for homework that night when a familiar voice came from behind her.

"I bet you're probably wearing, blue lace…" His breath was hot on the back of her neck, and not wanted.

Her jade green eyes rolled, she didn't bother to look back to see who it was, she already knew. There was no one on this earth that could be as annoyingly cocky, or as terribly arrogant as Reid Garwin.

"Do you have a purpose for harassing me, Reid?" She asked shortly.

"Harassing, that's such a nasty word…" He leaned down towards her, pressing his hard body against hers. "I just came by to talk…" He stated letting his lips linger over her ear, making her entire body quiver.

His gloved hands grasped on to her hips roughly, pulling her closer to him, she let out a small yelp as he pressed his mouth against her ear.

"Wh-what do you want?" She asked grabbing on to the edge of her locker, trying to pull herself away from him.

"See that's what I want to know…" Reid stated turning her around aggressively, to face him.

"Excuse me?" She asked looking up at him.

"I want to know, what you want with Tyler…" Reid's voice was sharp and his eyes penetrated in to hers.

"What are you talking about?" Hailey asked playing the confused card.

"You're not the kind of girl that goes after what she wants," Reid accused. "It took me nearly three weeks to get you to even talk to me, then two more weeks for you to go out with me… and then a month to get you in to bed…" He calculated.

"I'm not the same girl I was a year ago, Reid… you of all people should know that…" She gave him a malevolent look.

"I'm watching you Gregory, don't even think about hurting my best friend…" Reid quipped pulling her against him roughly.

"You should be the last person preaching to me about hurting someone…" She snapped shoving him off of her with as much force as she could muster up.

The blonde glared at her and was about to say something when she snapped back at him without thinking, "Don't be jealous because I actually find Tyler more attractive than you…"

Reid's face fell at the thought, "Excuse me?" He asked.

"That's right… Tyler is better looking than you…" She grinned. "Fancy that…" Her grin turned in to a smirk as she took a step closer to the blue-eyed heartthrob. "It's a shame that it took me an entire year to see that…"

With that she slammed her locker shut and took off towards the dorms, leaving Reid completely dumbstruck.

* * *

**Please remember to R&R! (It's my inspiration!)**


	4. Interruptions

**I'm thrilled that you guys are enjoying this story... I can't wait until it gets towards the middle... because I already have a big part of that typed out and it makes things VERY interesting... so stayed tuned...**

_**

* * *

**_

**_Chapter 4 - Interruptions_**

Hailey felt her heart pounding out of her chest, she had just snapped at Reid fucking Garwin. Had she lost her mind? She shook her thoughts and quickly found her way to her dorm; she shut the door behind her and leaned up against it.

"What the hell are you thinking?" She asked herself. Reid was going to be watching her now, watching everything she did, and that bothered her beyond belief. "Fuck you, Reid Garwin…" She whispered harshly.

"Those are some harsh words, princess…" Aaron's voice tore her from her thoughts. He was lying on her bed, propped up on his left elbow, legs crossed down at the ankles.

"Don't you have swim practice?' She asked him casually, he always did this to her.

"It was cancelled…" He shrugged and sat up. "So, ready to back out of the bet yet?" He questioned with a large grin on his face.

"You never did tell me the consequences if I backed out…" She stated looking over at him, wondering if she should bail out now before it was too late. _You can't bail out now Hailey; it's only been a day and a half in to it…_ She thought shaking her head.

"Hmmm, good point…" Aaron tapped his fingers to his chin in a Reid-like fashion. _Ugh, stop thinking about that Blonde manwhore…_ She scolded herself mentally. "If you back out, you have to not only be my date for the Spring Festival, but also to Prom…" He grinned.

"That's it?" She asked her eyes wide.

"Oh, on the contrary…" He pulled himself up and walked up to her, pulling her closer to his body. "You've got to give me the one thing that I've been wanting for months now…" He let his words fall off of his tongue expertly.

"Are you serious?" She asked him.

Aaron gave her a prominent smirk and she shook her head, "Aaron, I don't see you like that… how do you expect me to do that?" She asked him.

"Awe c'mon it'll be quick and harmless and you can drop that poser Simms like a sack of potatoes…" He grinned letting his lips linger over hers seductively.

Hailey shook her head, and pulled away from him, why did good looking guys have this affect on her? Why did she have to go weak at the knees as soon as their skin came in contact with hers? It was her downfall, and she knew that… probably the reason that she given in to Reid so easily.

"No," She shook her head. "I made a bet with you, and I'm going to go through with it…" Her eyes met his.

"Alright," Aaron sighed. "Choose the hard way…" the blue-eyed boy shrugged his shoulders.

"I've got to go meet with Tyler…" She stated looking across her room at the digital clock.

"A date, already?" He asked.

"No, AP Government assignment…" She shook her head.

"I see, well I'll leave you to get dressed…" He grinned. "Unless of course you want me to stay and help?" He gave her a wicked grin.

"Get out…" She groaned opening the door.

"Bye my love," Aaron gave her a peck on the cheek as he slid out of the door, she watched him leave, a particular blonde walking down her hall catching her attention.

His blue eyes followed Aaron and then over to her, a menacingly look on his face. She stared him down for a moment before closing the door abruptly. She walked to her closet slipping out of her Spencer uniform and in to a relaxing pair of jeans and a tank top.

She grabbed her bag and left her room in search of Tyler's room, she only remembered from her experience with Reid. She knocked on the door and waited patiently for someone to answer. She was unnerved when his blonde roommate opened the door.

"What the hell do you want?" He asked sharply narrowing his blue eyes at her.

"I came to work on our Government report…" She stated giving him a curt look.

"Hailey?" Tyler's voice came from behind Reid. "Reid stop being such an ass…" He mumbled as Reid let the door open wide enough for Tyler to see the brunette girl standing before him.

"C'mon in…" He stated eyeing her up briefly. "I'm leaving…" He announced as soon as she walked through the door.

Hailey sighed and rolled her eyes as she let her bag slip out of her grasp and to the floor, "I think it should be me shunning him," She groaned looking at Tyler who looked slightly amused.

"I'm not sure what all happened between you two last year, but it had to of been big…" Tyler stated slowly.

"You're best friend is a prick." She remarked pulling out her packet the teacher handed out to them.

"As is yours…" He countered.

"Touché…" She grinned.

She laughed shortly as Tyler pulled out his things on his bed. She took in his attire for the first time since entering the room. It wasn't what she normally saw Tyler in, but he still looked as good as ever. A pair of baggy gray Spencer sweat pants adorned his long lean legs, and a tight black wife beater adorned his muscular torso.

"Hailey…" His voice tore her of the naughty thoughts that raced through her head.

"Hmmm?" She wanted to slap herself for being so stupid.

"I said you could sit down if you want…" He pointed his pencil to the empty spot at the foot of his bed.

"Oh, of course…" She laughed slightly taking a seat a bit uncomfortably on his bed. "Sorry, I tend to space out sometimes…"

Tyler laughed and rubbed his hand in his hair absentmindedly, "Its ok I understand completely…"

"Ok, I just don't want you to think I'm ignoring you on purpose…" She gave him a small smile and looked down shyly.

"I'm used to being ignored, so I don't take much offense to it…" Tyler blurted.

His face showed his embarrassment for letting out a personal confession, she reached over and gave his knee a small pat, "Your secret is safe with me," She gave him a short smile. "I know how you feel…" She shook her thoughts. "I'm a middle child, so I have middle child syndrome…" She shrugged.

"You have siblings?" Tyler asked shocked.

"Yeah, I have an older sister and a younger brother…" She replied naturally.

"They go to Spencer?" He asked carefully.

"My sister used to, she's five and a half years older than me, and my brother is four years younger than me, so he's still in a Middle School Prep." She answered. "How about you Tyler Simms, any siblings?" She asked.

"Unless you count Caleb, Pogue and Reid… nope…" He shook his head.

"So you guys are as close as you look then, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah, our families have been friends for as long as I can remember," Tyler's answer was almost robotic, as if he answered the same question a thousand times, which he probably had. "Our fathers were best friends and all attended Spencer… I guess it's a family thing…" He shrugged.

"Well you're lucky… at least you can make them go away when they annoy you…" Hailey laughed. "Unfortunately for me, that's not possible… that's why I opt to stay in the dorms…" She stopped herself from talking and bit her bottom lip. "Sorry, I also have a tendency to babble on about random things…" She sighed feeling very flushed at the moment.

"Don't be sorry, it's nice to have someone to talk to and hang out with… someone that's not one of the guys…" He stated nodding his head in the direction to a picture that was sitting on his night stand that had the four of them bundled up and holding snowboards.

"Well I can tell you it's nice to be able to talk to a guy that doesn't add in a perverted joke or comment every other sentence…" She stated rolling her eyes.

"If you really want… I could throw some out there…" Tyler joked tapping his pencil on to the book in front of him.

"I think I get plenty of that from good ol' Aaron…" She smirked.

A short silence set between the two, but it wasn't uncomfortable, it was a bit relaxing, Tyler looked at her and she looked right back at him. She couldn't help but note how truly gorgeous he was. The way his dark brown hair was now disshelved and hanging low in to his eyes, the toned muscles in his arm flexing with every flick of the pencil. Even the way he talked was alluring.

She shook her thoughts and glanced down at her things, "Well I guess we should get started, huh?" She asked clearing her throat.

"Yeah, you're probably right…" He agreed nodding his head.

Reid found his way to Nicky's, jacking Tyler's car as he usually did. He didn't like Hailey with Tyler, not one bit. He wasn't jealous, Reid Garwin was never jealous. He had already had that, no… it was something more than that. She had a hidden agenda, he could feel it.

He walked in to Nicky's waving briefly to the bald bartender and owner, the blonde headed straight to the pool table. He noticed the curly haired brunette that he had seen exiting Hailey's room earlier that afternoon, right before she decided to stumble in to _his_ room, with _his_ best friend.

"Garwin," Aaron smirked looking at the blonde. "Didn't expect to see you here tonight…"

"Why's that Aaron?" Reid asked picking up a pool stick.

"Hailey mentioned a certain Government project that you are supposed to be working on…" He stated with a lazy shrug as he lined up his next shot.

"Yeah well I didn't feel like being suffocated by the likes of your friends…" Reid quipped with a roll of his icy blue eyes.

"If I do remember correctly she was your girlfriend first…" Aaron leaned against his stick coolly.

"That's right Aaron, and you picked up my leftovers…" Reid smirked up at him. "You always did want to be me…" The blonde got in to his face.

"In your dreams Garwin, I see the way you look at her…" Aaron pressed his blue eyes turning in to little slits. "And I don't appreciate it one bit…"

"Look at her?" Reid scoffed. "She's good eye candy, but trust me I don't want anything to do with her…" Reid shook his head. "Though, she was an excellent lay, wouldn't you agree?"

Aaron felt his blood boiling as Reid talked so lightly about one of his very good friends, probably one of his best friends. He shoved the blonde back and glared at him.

"Don't you fucking talk about Hailey like that you ass," Aaron seethed.

"That's cute…" Reid laughed shortly shaking his head.

Aaron fought back the urge to punch the blonde right in the mouth, "What's so cute, Garwin?" Aaron spat eyeing Nicky who was keeping a firm eye on the two teens.

"You're in love with Hailey…" Reid pointed out.

"In love?" Aaron laughed at the thought. "With Hailey?" He shook his head. "You're sadly mistaken…"

"It's too bad that she's head over heels for my best friend already…" Reid shot back. Aaron's face fell, and then hardened just as quickly. He narrowed his eyes at his blue-eyed nemesis. "Compared to baby boy, you don't stand a chance…" Reid let the pool stick fall from his hand and left the Spencer Hot Spot with a smile on his face.

"Wow, I can't believe we got t his much done already!" Hailey exclaimed. "And people think I'm too smart… look at you…" She grinned looking up at Tyler who was blushing furiously.

"I'm not that smart…" Tyler denied with a shake of his head.

"Oh, don't be so modest… you have got to be one of the smartest people I know…" She stated slapping her hand down on his leg.

The instant her hand hit his leg they both looked at each other, her cheeks flushed and she was immediately aware of her stomach in her throat. Tyler looked down at her hand, and he slowly let his hand cover hers, wrapping his fingers gently around hers.

"I'm really glad that the professor paired us up…" Tyler admitted that mega-watt smile never leaving his face.

She felt herself melting just at the sight of this, "Me too," She nodded shortly.

She noticed Tyler leaning forward and she was doing the same. They were only a few inches a part with the door flew open and Reid Garwin came flying through the door, his face red and his hands clenched together in frustration.

"I fucking hate Aaron Abbott…"

* * *

**Please R&R!**


	5. 5AM

**I'm glad everyone is enjoying this so far...**

**_

* * *

_**

**_Chapter 5 - 5AM_**

After leaving Tyler and Reid's room that night Hailey ended up walking around the exterior campus of Spencer's dormitories. She couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to Tyler. She didn't have to worry about snide comments or perverted remarks that would make her blush or make her feel uncomfortable.

Being around him was humbling, and she enjoyed it, up until Reid Garwin had to blow it for her. She left not long after he barged in on them. Curses flying off his tongue about her best friend. Something that she didn't appreciate, but she knew that Aaron had a tendency of being a complete ass.

The next morning a knock on her dorm door woke her up. The young girl rolled on to her side glancing at the neon green digits staring back at her. Groaning she tore the covers from her body and answered the annoying rasping that was occurring.

"Ugh, Aaron it's five in the morning, what on God's green Earth are you doing?" She stared up in to a pair of familiar blue eyes.

"Wanted to get an early start this morning…" He quipped.

"It's FIVE AM" She exclaimed.

"Call me crazy," He shrugged a stupid grin on his face.

"Seriously, Aaron, what's up?" She asked.

"I ran in to Garwin last night at Nicky's…" Aaron stated circling around her; the young girl closed the door and raised an eyebrow at him.

"So?" She questioned folding her arms over her breasts. She felt uncomfortable having Aaron there when she was barely dressed.

"He said something that sparked my interest…" Aaron mused falling on to her bed freely, not bothering to ask.

"Garwin said something to spark an interest in someone?" She asked. "That's interesting…" her eyebrow quirked up.

"Well it had to do with you, love…" Aaron stated his blue eyes gazing over her exposed lean legs.

"Me?" Hailey's interest was peeked now. What had Reid Garwin said that could have Aaron here at her door at five in the morning?

"Yeah," He nodded his head; Hailey was nervously rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet back to the heel, her oversized t-shirt riding high up on her thighs. He sat up, grabbing both of her hands and pulling her closer to his body. "The little blonde blue bird said that you were falling for his best friend," His voice was salted with jealousy, though Hailey hadn't picked up on it.

"That's absurd…" She stated making a face as Aaron shifted, forcing her to sit in his lap. "I'm just trying to get him in to me… enough so that he'll ask me out…" She shrugged her shoulders.

"So you don't like him?" Aaron asked his lips close to her ear, he could feel the lace of her boy-shorts on his bare thigh, his basketball shorts had rode up slightly when he fell back on to the bed.

"He's good looking, and he's sweet… but no…" She shook her head. So she was lying, but Aaron didn't need to know that, he didn't need another reason to hate the Sons of Ipswich. She shook her head and gave him a swift peck on the cheek. "You should go back to your dorm and go to bed… we still have an hour before we even need to be awake…" She groaned.

Aaron let his calloused finger tips run over the smooth tanned skin of her thighs, circling slowly around her knee caps. She felt her entire body shudder at his touch, his lips lingering on her neck, his right hand wandering up her shirt, stroking the small of her back.

"Are you sure you want to go back to sleep?" He whispered in her ear, he could feel himself getting hard with every touch of her skin.

"Aaron, stop…" She pulled away from him, standing up abruptly.

"C'mon Hailey…" He stood up, his tall frame leering over her, that sexy smile adorning his lips.

"No," She shook her head.

Aaron looked down defeated, setting his jaw, the muscles visibly tensing as he looked back up to meet her green eyes. He bobbed his head up and down slightly and bared his straight, white teeth in a small smile, "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have said anything…" He pulled her closer to him again.

"You should really go back to bed…" She insisted pushing him towards the door.

Without saying another word Aaron gave her a tender kiss on the cheek before disappearing in to the dark halls of Spencer's dormitory. She sighed pressing herself against the cold wood.

Why did he do this to her? Why did he always try and swoon her when she was least expecting it?

Shaking her thoughts, and now fully awake she groaned loudly, she was always glad that they never found her a roommate. She knew Prep School girls they gossiped more than your normal Public School girl did, they were even more relentless.

Feeling a bit unnerved she grabbed her shower kit and a towel and opened the door to the eerily dark halls. Padding gently to the shower's she tried not making any sounds, the rubber soles of her shower shoes squeaking ever few steps as she slipped in to the large bathroom.

She always hated walking down the halls late at night, it was rather creepy, and something that she didn't like to do. She'd rather fight the crowd of anorexic, Barbie dolls than creep around so early in the morning when no one could hear her if she screamed.

She placed her kit in the shower, hanging the towel on the farthest wall, she turned on the water and waited until it became warm to strip off her night shirt and laced panties. She hung them next to the towel and let the hot beads of the water massage the kinks out of her body.

She wouldn't lie, Aaron's hands caressing her body turned the temperature up. Those pink supple lips on her ear, the hot breath on her neck. She had thought about just giving in to him, just letting the sexy swimmer have his way with her, there was nothing to be ashamed of if she did.

But she didn't want to be labeled as one of Aaron's cheap one-night stands. She was afraid that if she let him have her, then he would cut all ties afterwards. She knew how he was with Kira Snider, and she wasn't about to be his go-to girl.

She wouldn't allow herself that turmoil. She didn't want to see that side of Aaron Abbott.

Tyler opened one eye, staring at the digital clock, the blue number bore in to his soul; it was only five thirty in the morning. Groaning lowly to himself he let his arm fall dramatically over his eyes. He hadn't slept well that night, not at all. Thoughts of Hailey Gregory flooded his memory.

The way her lips had slightly parted as he leaned down closer to her, the twinkle in her eye when she said goodnight to him after Reid rudely interrupted them. Everything about her kept his mind stirring wildly. He hadn't been so caught up in a girl since… hell he didn't think he had every been this caught up on a girl.

He shook his head, he had only been talking to her for about two days, and already she plagued his mind? Was there something wrong with him?

The best part was that he didn't feel uncomfortable around her like he did with most girls. She was different, as cliché as that might sound, it was true.

He grunted thrashing the covers off of his toned body. He might as well go shower before the morning rush. He striped himself of his restricting boxers and grabbed one of the mahogany colored terry cloth towels and wrapped it around his thin waist. Sliding in to his favorite pair of soccer slides he grabbed his shower kit and left for the bathroom.

Something bothered him. The random noises of the hallway didn't bother him, the shadows running diligently along the cold walls didn't bother him either. It was the feeling of a thousand needles along his spine that bothered him.

He stood in front of the third floor bathroom and growled lowly, _Out of Order_ the black bold letters stared back at him. _Fuck_, he cursed to himself.

It was still early; he could make it down to the second floor, shower and then get back here before the morning zoo that would take place because of the third floors inconvenience. Grinding his teeth together he fled to the stairs, descending down to the second floor.

Just as he was pushing on the bathroom door, someone was pulling on the same door and a small startled scream escaped a pair of strawberry pink lips.

A pair of familiar strawberry pink lips, the owner held a hand to her wet chest. Tyler felt a small smile tugging at his lips as he glanced down at the green eyed girl that stared back up at him. The shock was apparent on her face as she looked up in to his blue eyes.

"Tyler," Her voice was hoarse from the scream she had just let out. "What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"Came to take a shower…" He held up his shower kit, giving her a Reid-like smirk.

"I figured as much," She let out a small laugh, shaking her head. "But, what are you doing _here_?" A bony finger pointed down to the tiled floor beneath them.

"Ah, I couldn't sleep so I figured I'd take a shower, but the third floor bathroom is out of order…" He announced.

He felt his gaze rest over her, her hair was stringy and wet and was hanging in her face, the small beads of water dripped down her neck to her collar bone. His tongue slipped out of his mouth, moistening his dry lips, thoughts of Hailey Gregory in the shower passed through his mind seductively.

"I see," She whispered, her eyes gazing over his excellent physique. He didn't have too much muscle, but there was definition in every area of his body.

The strong shoulders, arms and legs from swimming, a nice flat, well defined six pack, and obvious pectoral muscles. Hailey's gave shifted down seeing the sexy 'V' of his waistline, the terry cloth towel hanging dangerously low on his hips.

She felt her body tense as those long, slender fingers gently touched the tanned skin on her bare arms.

"I'm sorry about Reid…" He muttered resting his back against the frame of the door.

"It's ok, like I said I'm used to him by now…" Her laughter was soft and airy.

"I know, but he can really be an ass sometimes…" He ran a hand through his mussed hair.

"It's all good…" She grinned at him. "Well, I should get going…" She jabbed her thumb in the direction of her dorm.

"Yeah," Tyler nodded feeling a lump form in his throat.

"I'll see you later then…" She gave him a small grin and pushed off of the door and towards her dorm.

"Hailey…" Tyler stepped towards the hallway.

She turned to him and gave him a small grin, "Yeah Tyler?" She asked.

"Do you need a lift to school later?" He asked.

Hailey looked at him and then paused, "Sure, that'd be great…" She grinned.

Tyler smiled nervously running his palms against the towel hanging around his waist. He watched her walk away, the towel grazing along her thighs, the muscles in her calves flexing with every step.

He pushed the door open to the bathroom; he started his shower trying to erase all thoughts of her. His brain failed him, miserably.

* * *

**Please remember to R&R!**


	6. Fantasize

**Glad you guys are liking this story so far! I appreciate all of the reviews:) **

_**

* * *

**_

**_Chapter 6 - Fantasize_**

The ride to school was not what she expected; she and Tyler were just about to leave when Reid came running after Tyler, screaming something about him forgetting his best friend for a chick. The blonde had forced himself between the two, and then forced the brunette girl to sit in the backseat of the Hummer.

Parking the liquid black Hummer, Tyler held the rear door open for her to hop out, ignoring Reid's mindless rambling. She stepped out her black Mary Jane's hitting the slick pavement. He gave the door a quick heave and set his gaze down towards her.

"Sorry about Reid," He whispered as Reid glared back at the two of them.

"Don't apologize for him Tyler, it's not your fault…" Hailey stated rolling her eyes at the blonde who was now checking out a blonde that had just walked by him, her uniform altered to show off parts of her that were meant to be hidden.

"I know, but that doesn't make me feel any less bad…" He commented as the two of them scaled up the steps of Spencer Academy.

"Don't sweat it," She stated bumping her shoulder in to his.

"Baby boy…." A voice trailed off as two taller boys came towards them, Hailey knew them, or at least she knew who they were.

The one on the left who had just called Tyler by his nick name was the tall, dark and handsome, Caleb Danvers. The one on the right was the long-haired, motorcycle riding, and usually silent Pogue Parry.

Both of them were sans girlfriend, which was a rarity.

"Guys, what's up?" Tyler asked adjusting the strap of his book bag.

"Um, we needed to talk to you…" Pogue trailed off his eyes diverting to Hailey.

The brunette took the hint, "Tyler I'll see you later… thanks for the ride to school…" She gave his arm a squeeze before disappearing in to the sea of other kids.

"What was _that_ about?" Pogue asked his head turning as he watched the brunette walk away.

"I drove her to school," Tyler shrugged his shoulders.

"From what I hear Reid walked in on you two about to…" Caleb trailed off.

"Caleb, seriously look at who your source is… its Reid!" Tyler exclaimed walking with his friends to his locker. "We were just about to kiss when that asshole decided to come barging in to the room and screwing up everything…" He rolled his eyes.

"So you like this girl, huh?" Pogue asked with a sly grin on his face.

"Be careful Ty…" Caleb muttered. "Aaron Abbott is one of her friends; and that just reeks of trouble…"

"Trust me; I know what I'm doing…" Tyler insisted. "So you guys needed to tell me something?" He asked shoving his hands in to his pockets.

Hailey had slipped away from the three good looking men that made of three fourths of the Sons of Ipswich. She was glad though that she didn't have to see anymore of the fourth and final 'member'. She had enough of him in the last two days to last her a lifetime.

She stopped at her locker enjoying, briefly, her alone time.

She took in a deep breath and pulled out her things for the first class of the day, American Literature. She grabbed her copy of The Shining by Stephen King, her large Literature book, and her binder.

She felt someone press against her, the rock hard thin body of someone. She sucked in a deep breath feeling her entire body shudder at their sudden touch. What the hell was going on? She wondered. Why did every guy in her life want to touch her like this? It was beginning to make her crazy.

"Purple Satin," His voice dripped with arrogance, those black fingerless gloves scratched the smooth skin of her arms. She didn't know why he had all of a sudden decided to harass her again, they hadn't spoken in almost a year, and suddenly he was all over her again.

One of his hands reached around brushing against her navel, he let his thumb graze over the area feeling something foreign, and it had not been there before. The metal ball was slightly protruding, making it less conspicuous.

"That's new…" He whispered harshly in to her ear.

A pair of jade green eyes rolled as she shoved him roughly with her elbows, "What the hell is up with you Garwin?" She asked whipping around unexpectedly. "You left me alone for a year, and now you're back in my personal bubble and I really don't like it…"

If looks could kill Reid Garwin would be six feet under.

"Get your hands off of her Garwin…" She had never been so happy to hear Aaron Abbott's voice. He would get her out of this odd and unwanted situation.

She felt Reid's hands drop from her arms, the blonde boy turned to look at Aaron who was standing at his full height. Reid let his infamous smirk crawl on to his face as he cracked his knuckles and eyed Aaron up; the curly haired brunette did the same back.

The testosterone in the hallway was beginning to suffocate her; she slammed her locker shut and stared between the two. Before either of them made another peep she grabbed Aaron by the arm and dragged him towards American Literature.

"What the hell Hails?" Aaron asked rudely as he straightened out his shirt. "I was about to pulverize that asshole…"

"You do not need to end up in the provost's office again, especially not because of _him_…" She declared. "Besides Reid isn't worth it…" She shook her head.

"What the hell was that all about though?" Aaron questioned sliding in to his normal seat.

Hailey looked around and leaned in closer to Aaron, "Thanks to your stupid bet…" She whispered her eyes staying focused on the door hoping that Tyler nor Reid would come in at that moment. She must have had luck on her side because neither of them had shown up. "He's been harassing me…snide remarks, pushing up against me like he did in the hall… spout off about last year…" She rolled her eyes. "It's getting on my last damned nerve…"

"I can shut him up for good…" Aaron threatened.

"What did I say; you are not ending up in the provost's office because of him… or worse…" She pointed a finger at him.

"So you're going to protect him?" Aaron asked scoffing.

"No, I'm protecting you," She insisted.

Aaron rolled his blue eyes as the particular Son of Ipswich in question walked through the door with his brunette best friend. Aaron's eyes turned to slits as Reid tossed a wink in Hailey's direction. Tyler flashed her a bright smile and a short wave, she responded to him but deflected any attention from Reid.

The day dragged on, she had one other run in with Reid but it didn't last long before his blue-eyed brunette roommate swooped in to save her. Not that she really needed to be saved from the likes of Reid Garwin, but something inside of her still found him remotely attractive.

Filing out of her last class she glanced around no Aaron, no Reid and no Tyler, perhaps she would grab her things and head in to town for some piece and quiet. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Aaron or Tyler, but at the moment her mind had been fogged by both of the handsome creatures.

She was able to make it to her locker and half way across the courtyard to the dorms before being noticed. But it wasn't by whom she was expecting.

"Hailey, right?" A female voice came from beside her.

She could feel to pairs of eyes staring at her, she looked to her right where the voice came from a girl with long black hair and a mocha complexion smiled at her; to her left a blonde fair skinned girl beamed her cheeks a bit rosy.

The Ipswich girlfriends, Kate Tunney and Sarah Wenham.

"Yeah," She looked down at her watch and then back at the two girls.

"Are you and Tyler dating?" The blonde's question came out fast and without warning.

"Sarah!" Kate exclaimed shocked, the blonde covered her mouth and a Cheshire cat smile appeared on her lips seconds later.

"Sorry, I'm curious…" Sarah shrugged her slender shoulders forward.

"Um, no we're not dating…" Hailey's shoulders sagged forward slightly, a bit uncomfortable.

"He can't stop talking about you," Kate stated boldly.

"Ok," Hailey's eyebrows furrowed together as she glanced from one girl to the other slightly confused at why they were suddenly talking to her.

"You know Tyler is the baby of the group, and we all look out for him…" Kate stated slowly.

"We're like the mother hens of the group…" Sarah piped in, the smile never leaving her face.

Hailey stared at her for a second; those blue eyes were round and full of excitement, the smile white and straight. _She must be on something to be that happy, all the time._ Hailey thought, hiding her laughter.

"Well we're not dating, we're just friends… and we happen to be working on a project together in AP Gov, no big deal…" Hailey shrugged her shoulders.

"Well you see Reid has been talking to the boys and he said that he thinks it's more than that… he walked in on you two…" Kate trailed off as Hailey stopped walking and turned to look at them.

"Think about it for a second Kate, they're getting their information from Reid Garwin who extorts everything…" Hailey sighed. "Last night we were working on our project and we almost kissed, until asshole barged through the fucking door…" Hailey groaned.

"So you like him?" Sarah asked her eyebrows rising with pure excitement.

"I never said I didn't like him. I just said we weren't dating and that we were friends…" Hailey shrugged her shoulders tired of the third degree.

"So if Ty asked you out you'd say…." Kate asked in a hopeful tone.

"I don't know…" Hailey stated. "I've only really known him for three days…" She glanced at the two girls, sensing that they would run back to Tyler with any information they get. "More than likely yes, he's a great guy and hell-a cute…"

Kate looked at Sarah who grinned like a maniac and the two girls sighed, Hailey looked between them and then back at the dorms, "Is the interrogation over?" She asked.

Kate and Sarah simply nodded before Hailey turned around and started walking back to the dorms, a bit unnerved about the entire situation. Everyone was getting weaved dramatically in to this bet; if she would have never said something to Aaron none of this would be happening.

"Hey Hailey," Sarah's voice interrupted her again.

She turned to look at the two girls, "Yeah?" She asked.

"Kate and I wanted to know, if you're not busy later if you wanted to swing by and hang out for a little while?" The blonde questioned.

Hailey thought about it for a second and then remembered her date with herself, "Can I take a rain check on that?" She gave them a sweet smile.

"Sure," Kate nodded.

Hailey turned back around and headed towards the dorms, Kate and Sarah seemed like interesting girls. She could get to know them, befriend them… it might help her get to Tyler faster. She sighed and shook her thoughts.

Since when did she think up sick plans like this? This wasn't the person she was. She wasn't out to destroy people, she just wanted to win her bet and get on with her life. Groaning she ran the rest of the way to her dorm wanting to get there and fast.

Changing out of her Spencer uniform and into a pair of comfortable jeans and a fitting band t-shirt. She slipped on a pair of black and white keds, scavenged her room for her car keys. She found them lying under a pile of dirty clothes. Groaning she hurled the clothes in to a basket in the corner and picked up her black book bag that was by the door.

"Well hello Hails," That cocky bastard was standing in her escape path. Pale blue eyes bore down in to her green ones.

"Don't call me that," She gave him a death glare.

"Oh, would you prefer Purple Satin?" He asked that smirk dancing on his pink lips.

_Mental Note, burn those fucking underwear._ She cursed herself for trying to be sexy for that bastard. She sent him a warning glance and adjusted the strap on her book bag.

"My name, you asshole, is Hailey…" She pushed past him and started her retreat.

"Where are you off too?" He questioned jogging to catch up with her.

"None of your business now leave me alone…" She growled lowly quickening her pace.

"Oh c'mon sweetheart, you know I'm irresistible…" He stated grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards him.

She jerked her arm out of his grasp and glared up at him, "Irresistible my ass…" She groaned looking up at him. "You're a pompous ass and I can't stand to breathe the same air as you…" She exclaimed.

She hastily walked towards her car, she wish she could jump in to the blue Ford Explorer, run over the blonde, back up and run him over again. Then all of her problems would go away.

_A little extreme, don't you think Hails?_ She questioned herself. After a short pause she answered herself, _Maybe, but not for him. _

She pressed the button on her keychain and the lights flashed on the large SUV. She thought she had rid herself of the blonde wonder, but unfortunately she was mistaking. She had just pulled open the door of the car when a gloved hand above her shut it harshly.

"I remember this," A sloppy grin placed itself on his face. "I remember the backseat quite nicely…" He grinned his blue eyes twinkling.

"Fuck off, Reid…" She growled, giving him a fierce shove.

"Awe c'mon Hails; don't you want to go for another round?" He questioned. "You know you could drop Aaron, and I could be your best friend, with benefits…" He stated leering down at her, those pursed lips coming closer in contact with hers.

"With benefits?" She stared up at Reid like he had lost his mind. "Aaron and I are not friends with benefits…" She scoffed. "And as for you, no way in hell…" She opened her door again and slammed it shut before Reid had time to react.

So, Aaron was tapping that after all. Reid thought evilly, a small smirk playing on his lips, no wonder he was so riled up the other night when Reid suggested it. He let out a small laugh his blue eyes watching the piece of metal roll out on to the main road.

He didn't know what had been his motive for harassing her lately, maybe it was to piss off Aaron, perhaps it was because she insulted him by telling him that Tyler was better looking. Perhaps it was because he wanted to get another piece of her before his best friend got in over his head. He really didn't have a reason; he just found it utterly amusing.

Letting out a heavy sigh Hailey pulled in to the Starbucks that seemed to be so out of place in the outskirts of Ipswich. It was probably one of the most modern places in Ipswich; the nearest mall was in Salem, or in Boston. She was craving a caramel macchiato and some alone time.

She really needed to sort out her feelings and what her plan was going to be, she wasn't so sure if she could go through with this stupid bet of Aaron's. Well, she sighed, it was partially her idea, but he was the sinister one, who came up with it, and the consequences of backing out didn't seem horrible but for some reason she didn't want it to come to that.

"What can I get for you today?" The cheery light haired girl behind the counter asked a fake smile plastered on her thin lips.

Hailey looked up at her giving her an equally fake smile and responded, "A venti caramel macchiato, please."

The girl nodded ringing it up and looked at the girl, "Your name, please?" She asked.

"Hailey…" She answered watching the girls bubbly handwriting spell out her name, for once, they had spelled it correctly.

"Alright Hailey, that'll be $4.65" The girl gave her another forced smile as Hailey handed over her debit card. The girl swiped the car and Hailey entered in her four digit pin number. The girl yanked off the receipt and handed it to her. "Have a great day,"

Hailey stood back waiting patiently for her drink, she watched as the second girl mixed up a few different drinks, taking her time to measure everything out equally. She placed a few cups down and looked around at the awaiting customers.

"Jane, Roxanne and Hailey…" She called out the three names adorning the cups.

Hailey happily grabbed her cup and then a comfy, leather chair. She let her bag slide off of her arm and on to the ground, she brought the cup to her mouth and slowly took a sip, the hint of caramel hitting her taste buds sent her in to a relaxing mood.

She pulled the cup away and sighed heavily, she was glad to have some alone time, in the quite little coffee shop that was generally frequented by the middle-aged mothers of the Spencer Elite. Her mind immediately fell to the three boys that had been plaguing her mind the last few days.

Aaron, her best friend, the one person that she always felt comfortable around, at least until recently. He seemed to have done a complete 180 since their little bet started. He seemed almost hostile anytime she was with Tyler, or anytime Tyler looked at her. She didn't know what to think about him, then Tyler's words crossed her mind, _He likes you_. Could what Tyler said be true, could Aaron really like her?

The thought crossed her mind once or twice before, especially with Aaron's innuendos but he was always like that with her. That was just his personality or so she thought.

Then there was Reid. She didn't know what had sparked his sudden interest in her. Was he a masochist? Did he get his rocks off by torturing her? Those rough, calloused hands were familiar to her skin, the scratching of those fingerless gloves on her skin. She wouldn't lie, Reid Garwin had given her probably the best sex of her life when she was with him, but that didn't make up for his personality.

She knew he couldn't possibly like her, was he getting back at her for commenting on Tyler's attractiveness and how it preceded the blonde manwhore? Or was he just trying to piss Aaron off even more?

Then there was the blonde's best friend, Tyler. She felt the small smile tug at her lips at the thought of him. The way he smiled at her like no one else did and those unbelievably blue eyes that seemed to read her carefully but with out judgment.

There was something about Tyler Simms that she couldn't get enough of. He treated her like she was the only girl around; she had all of his attention when they were together. Not to forget his extremely well-toned, incredible body.

That morning it was hard to control her hormones. If she had been a bit more of an assertive person she would have thrown her inhibitions to the wall and grabbed that luscious head of brown hair in her grasp and forced her lips on those pink cushions of velvet.

Hailey felt the goose bumps running up and down her arms at the thought of kissing Tyler, she snapped out of her daze and looked around the coffee shop. She shook her thoughts and scolded herself; _you came here to get away from them._ She reminded herself. _Not to fantasize abut Tyler Simms._

She let a small grin form on her lips at the thought. Maybe it wouldn't have to be a fantasy for too long.

* * *

**Please remember to R&R!**


	7. Compromising Situation

_**Two chapters in one day, hell you guys are lucky! Haha... just kidding... anywho... enjoy!**_

_**

* * *

**_

**_Chapter 7 - Compromising Situation_**

The next school day went by quickly, she had a run in with Reid but he was cut off again by Aaron. Hailey had dragged Aaron away and to their last class together for the day. She had begun to make it a habit to sit with Tyler in most of her classes, and the two were becoming good friends.

"Hails," Tyler's voice cut in to her thoughts as she pulled out her AP Government book.

"Ty, hey…" She gave him a small smile putting her last book in her book bag.

"You want to come over tonight and we can try and finish up the project?" He asked looking down at her, that cute boyish smile playing on his lips.

"Don't you have swim practice… like now?" She asked looking at her watch.

"Yeah, afterwards?" He questioned.

"Sure…" She nodded her head.

He turned around to leave and then turned back to her, "You wouldn't want to come watch us, would you?" He asked.

Hailey was about to say something but stopped herself, Aaron had never asked her to come watch him at practice, and he'd only asked her to watch him in one meet. She pursed her lips together and smiled at him.

"And miss an opportunity to see half of the senior class, including you, in Speedos… I think not…" She grinned at him.

Tyler blushed furiously as she slung her bag over her shoulder and caught up with the brunette. He didn't say much after her comment until he disappeared in to the locker room. Hailey walked in to the gym and saw Kate and Sarah sitting in the bleachers talking.

She puckered her lips together in thought, should she go talk to them? Or pretend she didn't see them?

"Hailey!" Sarah's voice was full of its usual enthusiasm.

_Too late no_wShe thought.

She plastered on a smile and waved, "Hey girls, what's up?" She asked giving them both a small wave and hello.

"What are you doing here?" Kate asked curiously.

"Tyler kinda asked me to come… I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see hot guys in small bathing suits…" She shrugged.

"I completely understand," Kate agreed.

"You two are terrible…" Sarah stated with a sigh as Caleb and Pogue walked out of the locker room.

"She's only saying that because she thinks Caleb has a bionic ear…" Kate stated tossing a glance at Hailey.

"In all honesty, I would be too… if I had a boyfriend that looked like one of them…" She stated moving her finger across the line of the four Sons that were now standing near a wall talking.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Reid's voice sounded like a ten year old boy who didn't get what he wanted from the toy aisle.

"I invited her…" Tyler stated crossing his arms over his chest.

"You really like this girl, huh?" Caleb asked glancing at the blue-eyed brunette.

Before Tyler could respond Pogue interrupted, "From what I hear she likes you too…" He grinned looking over at Kate who blew him a kiss.

"Oh really?" Caleb asked Pogue.

"You know my girlfriend; she should look in to investigating journalism or something…" Pogue shook his head.

Reid rolled his eyes, "Back to the original question, why the hell is she here?" He stated glaring at Tyler.

"I invited her to come watch practice, what the hell is your problem?" Tyler asked glancing at the blonde uneasily.

"Yeah man, you not over her or something?" Pogue asked his hands resting on his hips.

"Not over her?" Reid scoffed. "Please, I've had better lays than Hailey Gregory… she is not over me…" He insisted.

"Could you please stop reminding me about that?" Tyler asked getting annoyed with his best friend and roommate.

"Don't be jealous Ty," Reid smirked at him.

"Drop it Reid," Caleb warned.

"Whatever, man…" Reid shook his head.

Aaron walked out of the locker room stretching his long arms across his body, his best friend Ryan Bael came walking out behind him, slapping a hand on his shoulder. The two were wrapped up in a conversation when a familiar body in the bleachers caught his attention.

"What is she doing here?" Aaron asked his blue eyes growing wide.

"Who?" Ryan asked glancing at his friend.

"Hailey…" Aaron pointed to the bleachers. "With Kate and Sarah?" He asked confused.

"When the hell did this happen?" Ryan asked.

"I don't have a fuckin' clue…" Aaron growled stalking over towards the bleachers.

"Aaron, hey…" Hailey smiled at him, scowls forming on Sarah and Kate's faces. "What's up?" She asked seeing his obvious discomfort.

"What are you doing here?" He asked lowly as to not cause any unwanted attention from the two girls next to her.

"Tyler invited me to come watch swim practice, we're going to work on our project afterwards…" She answered with a simple shrug.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked looking down at the ground.

She nodded and stood up following him to secluded area of the gym, Aaron leered down at her and his lip curled up in a disturbing scowl.

"Why are you hanging out with Sarah and Kate?" He asked.

"Because they are being nice to me, I'm not going to shun them; I don't even know them…" She furrowed her brows. "What's your deal Aaron?" She asked confused. "You have been on edge about everything I do lately…" She accused.

"Nothing, I just don't want you to get too deep in to this whole bet thing…" He whispered.

"Well you shouldn't have made it then, should you have?" She questioned.

Aaron looked at her, his lips pursed together; he was clenching and unclenching his fists to calm his nerves. She raised an eyebrow at him and proceeded to ask him the question that had been on her mind since Tyler asked her to come to practice.

"How come you never ask me to watch you practice, or come to your meets?" She asked.

Aaron looked at her and then over to Tyler and his friend's who were watching them carefully, "Because I know you don't want to be around that blonde prick…"

"That's the only reason?" She asked.

"Yeah, you were pretty strung up on him after he broke up with you, don't you remember?" Aaron stated his tone forced.

"Trust me I remember…." She remarked looking past Aaron to see the blonde and the brunette of the small group looking at them intently. "You better get over there before Coach Hamm decides to castrate you for being late…" She forced a smile.

"Alright…" He groaned slowly. "We still on for movies tomorrow?" He asked her with a hopeful smile.

"Of course," She gave him a sly grin and headed back to the bleachers.

"I can't believe that you're friends with him," Kate mumbled.

"It's hard to believe, you're so nice and he's so… Aaron…" Sarah stated trying not to be rude.

"He's a nice guy, trust me… most of his demeanor around school is a crock… he's almost a totally different person when we're together…" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Almost?" Kate asked.

"The Sexual Innuendos… those are there all the time…" She laughed shaking her head. "I swear I get dropped by an arrogant, cocky, sex-driven teen, and then I end up best friends with his counterpart…"

"I almost forgot you went out with Reid," Kate stated slowly.

"What?" Sarah's eyes grew wide. "You dated Reid?"

"Last year for about a month and a half…" She shrugged her shoulders. "I was very stupid and very hormonal…" She groaned seeing Reid send her a wink as he got ready for practice.

"It was terrible, Reid was such a jerk to her after that…" Kate exclaimed.

"He charmed me, that's for sure…" Hailey sighed. "And he finally left me alone for about a year but now… now he won't leave me the hell alone…" She admitted.

"Really?" Sarah asked.

"For some reason," Hailey shrugged her shoulders.

Hailey's attention was then grabbed by Tyler who slid out of his grey Spencer sweat pants revealing his barely there Speedo. She felt her breath caught in her throat as he mounted the platform. Hailey couldn't tear her gaze away from his fit body.

"You're drooling," Sarah giggled in her ear.

Hailey snapped out of her daze and blushed furiously, "What can I say; he's a good looking specimen…" She grinned slowly.

She watched him dive in to the water and do a practice round of freestyle, coming back doing the butterfly and finally heading in to the breaststroke his normal style of swim.

Practice wrapped up and the guys all hurried in to the locker room, the three girls waited outside patiently for the guys to finish up. Caleb and Pogue were two of the first finished.

"Hey Hailey…" Caleb smiled at her.

"Caleb," She nodded to him as he linked hands with his gorgeous blonde girlfriend.

"See you later, Hailey good to see you again…" Sarah insisted as she gave her a small wave.

"I guess we're out of here too," Kate stated sliding her arm around Pogue's waist. "Don't forget you owe us a rain check!" She pointed at the girl before following Pogue to his yellow Ducati.

Hailey leaned against the brick building and a blonde mop crossed her peripheral vision, groaning lowly she hoped that he would walk right past her and not bother her at this moment; she really didn't want to be harassed by the rebellious blue eyed blonde.

"Hails," She looked up at the sky and groaned.

"God you must hate me," She muttered, she looked back to face that pointed nose and sharp pale blue eyes. "What do you want Garwin?" She asked annoyed.

"Tyler told me to tell you that he'll be out in a few minutes…" He gave her a cocky little grin before disappearing around the corner.

_That bastard_, she thought shaking her head. One minute he's inches from getting a knee to the balls, or an elbow to the ribs and then he does shit like that. She couldn't stand it. She closed her eyes and waited patiently for Tyler to join her.

Feeling a pair of soft lips on her cheek her eyes shot open, she wasn't expecting that, and she knew it couldn't have been Tyler. Her best friend stood a small smirk dancing on his lips.

"Hey love," He grinned to her.

"Aaron," She acknowledged.

"What are you doing?" He asked looking at the bag that was laying on the ground next to her black Mary Jane's.

"Waiting for Ty," She stated raising an eyebrow.

"Resulting to nicknames already, cute…" He pushed leaning on the wall next to her.

"C'mon Aaron, don't start this…" She groaned.

"I think you're getting to close…" He whispered. "You should just give up and take the consequences…" he stated his hand reaching out and grabbing hers.

"It's been all of what, four days… c'mon Aaron, give me a little more credit than that…" She stated with a roll of her eyes.

"Whatever, babe…" He shook his head seeing Tyler poking his head out of the locker room, the curly haired boy pushed himself off of the wall and gave her a wink goodbye.

"Hey," Tyler smiled watching Aaron leave.

"Hey, you ready?" She asked.

"Yeah, sorry… a bit of locker room hazing…" He laughed adjusting the white t-shirt that was sticking to his body.

"About?" She quirked an eyebrow up at him.

"It happens anytime one of us guys brings a girl to practice…" He stated slowly.

"Oh really?" She asked, he simply nodded. "What does this locker room hazing consist of?" She asked.

Tyler pressed his lips together and looked at her, "Putting my entire gym bag in the showers and turning all the shower heads on…" He sighed. "So I'm wearing Reid's clothes… and that scrawny ass wears under shirts that are tighter than most girls' clothes…" He mused pulling at the white shirt.

She couldn't hide her laughter as they walked towards the parking lot; she didn't see Tyler's Hummer and assumed that Reid had taken it upon himself to take his best friend's car, "I guess I'm driving…" She laughed glancing over at him.

"He has a tendency to do that, without telling me…" He shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't say that I understand… but…" She laughed unlocking her car.

"So," Tyler exhaled as he climbed in to her passenger's seat. "Aaron looked like he was about to have a coronary when he saw you at practice…"

Her eyes barely left the road as she backed out and answered, "You know him, wanting to know why I was there, and why I was hanging out with Kate and Sarah…" She rolled her eyes and moved the gear to drive. "I swear he's got something up his ass…" She shook her head.

"Well I'm sorry if my invitation put you in a bad predicament…" He apologized.

Hailey glanced over at him and pulled in to the parking lot of the dormitory.

"Don't be sorry, Tyler… I enjoyed practice…" She gave him a smile.

"You did?" He asked casually giving her a lazy grin.

"Honestly, I think Spencer should change their school uniforms, the guys can only wear Speedos, and that's it…" She remarked blushing slightly afterwards at his gawking face.

"I don't know if I could handle that…" He laughed.

"Me either," She grinned parking the car. "I might end up hyperventilating during class or something…" She chuckled grabbing her bag and walking with him towards the dorms.

Tyler shook his head, "If that happened I would have to move to request that all the girl's uniforms be changed to bikinis…" He grinned at her.

"I'm not objecting you all have the right to ogle too…" She stated as he pulled the door open and let her slip inside.

Tyler continued to laugh, his abdomen hurting as he slipped in after her, "Speaking of bathing suits…" He got a good glance of her from a side glance. "We have a meet Friday against Peterbrooke; I'd like it if you came…"

Hailey chewed on her bottom lip as if in deep thought and glanced at him with a huge smile on her face, "I'd love to come…" She grinned and then paused as they ascended up the stairs, "You're not going to get hazed again are you?" She asked him feeling a bit guilty.

"No, been there done that…" Tyler waved his hand, and the two started up the stairs again.

"Good," She nodded as they stopped at Tyler's floor.

They were silent until they had settled down on Tyler's bed their information spilling all over the navy blue comforter. They were laughing and joking for awhile and finally started working on their project.

About an hour in to their project Hailey let out an exasperated sigh, Tyler caught on and closed his book, "We should take a break, what do you say?" He asked.

"Sounds good," She agreed whole-heartedly.

"Some TV?" He asked holding up the remote. Hailey grinned and nodded her head.

Tyler turned on the flat screen TV that was hanging on the wall, "Excuse Reid, he has to have everything extravagant…" He grinned.

"I don't mind…" She laughed pushing her things to the side and turning so she could get a good view of the television.

Tyler flipped through the channels until he heard an 'ooh' come from Hailey. He stopped switching the channels and found what she was intrigued by, Pirates of the Caribbean. He suppressed any laughter and left the TV on the movie channel.

"You can come sit up here with me…" He paused. "If you want…" He added with a small smile. "I don't bite…"

Hailey looked up at him her green eyes showed her amusement as she scooted up the twin bed and took a seat next to him, their bodies close. Tyler smoothly lifted his arm up and placed it behind her, getting Hailey to react by snuggling up closer to the handsome brunette.

After about ten minutes of sitting next to Tyler, his arm around her shoulders and her head resting on his shoulder Hailey was getting bored with the movie. She let her eyes roam over Tyler; he was still watching Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom intently on the television. His dark blue eyelashes were framed by thick dark lashes, the simple point of his nose, and the strong jaw line that drew towards those pink luscious lips.

She pursed her lips together and sat up, getting Tyler's attention. He turned his attention to her and she smiled briefly, something in her stomach fluttered the way those eyes drew her in. She swallowed hard and without another thought she was pulling him in to her.

Her fingers laced behind his neck as she pulled her lips to mesh with his. At first Tyler was shocked, but his hands slowly pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss. He pulled away from her slowly and his forehead rested against hers.

"I'm surprised Reid hasn't made his interrupting entrance yet…" He breathed heavily.

Hailey's green eyes stared in to his and shook her head, "Don't bring him up," She shook her head slightly. "Just kiss me…" She demanded bringing him in to her again.

Tyler happily obliged situating himself so that now she was lying on her back and he was leaning down attacking her mouth with his. Her right hand was running through his silky hair, tugging every few strokes to pull him in closer, deepening the kiss as her tongue searched every inch of his mouth.

Her left hand was moving up the back of his shirt, as Tyler's hands caressed her body slowly. His left hand was flirting with the hem of her skirt, slowly pushing it up. She was surprised at how soft his finger tips were, nothing like Reid's or Aaron's.

His kisses were intense; her entire body was reacting to him. She didn't know if she could leave his dorm tonight with just kissing. The smell of his cologne was intoxicating her nostrils as he nibbled gently on her bottom lip, the feeling of his hand on her smooth leg was making her body temperature rise to levels that she hadn't quite experienced before.

"Well I'll be damned…" A voice from the door interrupted them.

Tyler pulled away from Hailey immediately and hung his head a bit, this was definitely a compromising situation. Tyler was half on top of Hailey one of his hands was trailing around the hem of her uniformed skirt, the other was holding up his body. Her right leg was bent around one of his legs, and her hand up his shirt and tugging on his hair.

"Baby boy didn't I teach you anything, you put the tie on the door handle if you don't want some one walking in on you while you're doing the deed…" The blonde smirked flopping down on his bed as if the two weren't even there.

"I should probably go…" Hailey stated pulling herself together finally.

"Oh no, don't let my presence ruin the moment…" Reid quipped his eyes focused on the movie playing on the television.

"Too late for that," Tyler muttered tossing his best friend a relatively nasty glare.

Hailey sat up and began gathering her things; she felt her stomach flipping around nervously as she fumbled around, papers slipping out of her grasp as she tried her best not to look at Reid or Tyler. Tyler helped her clean up their mess and Hailey thought for a moment.

"Tyler I won't be able to work on the project tomorrow…" She said suddenly forgetting that Reid was even in the room.

"Oh?" He asked confused his eyebrows knitting in confusion.

"I'm sorry, it's just that every Thursday Aaron and I have a 'movie night' and I promised him I wouldn't miss it tomorrow…" She stated softly trying to avoid Reid from hearing her comment.

"I see," He looked down at the almost completed report. "I can finish it up if you want…" He stated scratching the back of his head.

Hailey's eyes fell to his hand that was resting on top of hers, "We could um… go to my room and finish the work if you want…" She offered. "Pull an all-nighter…"

Tyler's frown slowly turned into a smile at the thought, "Sure let me grab some stuff and I'll meet you at your dorm." He gave her hand a small squeeze before she stood erect to her full height of five foot five.

"Ok, I'm in 216…" She grinned pulling her things in to her book bag. "I'll stop down in the lobby and get us some coffee?" She asked.

"That'd be great…" Tyler nodded walking her to the door.

"Black?" She asked eyeing him up and down, wondering if he took his coffee the same way she did.

"Perfect…" He grinned.

Hailey bit her lip nervously, she leaned up on her tip toes and placed a quick peck on those pink swollen lips and disappeared down the hall. Tyler watched after her and then closed the door; he turned sharply on his heel and shot Reid a nasty glare.

"What the hell is your problem?" Reid scoffed, trying to hide his laughter.

"Do you use just to see what I'm doing so you can be an ass and interrupt?" Tyler asked him haughtily. Reid didn't reply instead he let his eyes flash black as the television turned off instantly and he gave Tyler his infamous smirk.

* * *

**Please remember to R&R!**


	8. Girlfriend

_**Woohoo, Tyler is a sexy beast in this chapter... enough said.**_

_**

* * *

**_

**_Chapter 8 - Girlfriend_**

Hailey walked down the hall mumbling to herself, what was she thinking? Inviting Tyler over to pull an all-nighter? She couldn't scratch the feeling of his hands on her skin out of her mind, the way his lips moved with hers expertly.

_God_, she thought heavily. It had been quite the experience; she had never gotten so much pleasure out of kissing a boy. Kissing had always been fun for her, and she loved to do it, but for some reason kissing Tyler had been so different.

His lips were just as she had pictured them, soft and plump, and the way his tongue darted around her mouth, fighting with hers for control. She shuddered; the thought alone of it gave her goose bumps.

Did she really think they would get work done tonight? If the thoughts that were running through her mind unraveled in real life, she wasn't sure if either of them would be leaving her room for quite some time.

She jogged down the stairs, taking two at a time to get to the lobby of the dormitory quicker. She cursed Reid for coming in when he did, and the way he did. He was such an asshole. Who knew what would have happened if the blonde Ipswich boy wouldn't have showed up, perhaps he would have walked in on something a little more intense, who knew?

Hailey let out a sigh and pulled her book bag on to her shoulder. She grabbed to Styrofoam cups and filled them with the strong black coffee that was always brewing in the lobby. She skillfully made it up to her room without spilling more than a few drops.

Placing the two cups down on the desk she flung her bag on to the spare bed and walked to her closet, looking for something decent to wear. She sighed and opted to pull on her night clothes. She grabbed a large Spencer senior t-shirt, a pair of dark blue shorts and her Spencer hooded sweatshirt and pulled the clothes on.

Her dorm was always freezing, she never really knew why, so she generally layered at night. She pulled her hair in to a high ponytail and pulled out her things, they didn't have a lot of work to do on the project but it was definitely about another nights worth of concentration.

A small knock came at the door and Hailey jumped off of her bed, she grabbed the two cups of coffee and answered the door skillfully. Her smile faded seeing a particular curly haired brunette on the other side of the door.

"Aaron, what the hell are you doing here?" She asked putting the cups of coffee down.

"Came by to see how your 'project' was going…" He stated looking at the books, but she knew he had a double meaning.

"It's going fine… and he's about to be here any minute so we can finish it up… since we're having movie night tomorrow we have to get it finished before tomorrow night…" She stated glaring up in to those blue eyes.

"You're spending an awful lot of time with him," Aaron stated.

Hailey was about to say something when Tyler appeared behind Aaron, raising a questioning eyebrow at her. She let the smile on her face grow at the sight of him.

"Tyler!" She exclaimed waving her hand to him. "Come on in…"

Aaron noted the genuine tone in her voice, it irked him a little bit too much. He sighed heavily and glared at Tyler as he squeezed through, placing a kiss on her cheek. She shot Aaron a look and he stuffed his hands in his pocket.

"Aaron staying?" Tyler asked carefully placing his book bag on the bed next to hers.

"Actually, he was just leaving…" Hailey remarked as Aaron's mouth fell open. "Right Aaron?" She asked him.

He pulled his mouth off of the ground and smiled at her, "Sure… I'll see you tomorrow, love…" He gave her a peck on the cheek, shot Tyler a nasty look and left.

She closed the door behind him and Tyler glanced at her for a moment, he had changed he was wearing a pair of black Adidas track pants and a white wife beater. She couldn't take the small off of her face to save her life. She instinctively grabbed the two cups of coffee and thrusted one towards the boy.

"So," She stated taking a seat on her bed and looking up at him.

Tyler refrained himself from practically jumping on top of her there, the way her hair was swept up in to a messy ponytail on the top of her head, and the shorts riding high up on those silky thighs, he took a sip of the black coffee to calm his nerves, and his hormones.

"We should probably get started, right?" He asked after a brief pause.

"Yeah," She nodded her head getting up and grabbing her bag.

"You don't have a roommate?" Tyler asked ten minutes later that had been sitting in silence reading through their notes.

"Nope, I was lucky enough to get roomed by myself…" She let out a small laugh at the thought.

"It gets lonely I bet," Tyler stated casually toying with the mechanical pencil in his right hand.

"Not so much, I actually like it…" She shrugged her shoulders and glanced at the empty bed. "Provost said that unless we get a new transfer I should be lonely up until graduation, but I'm not complaining…" She smiled.

"I can see how that's nice…" Tyler laughed thinking about the last few days Reid had purposely interrupted them. "No one to interrupt you if you're… busy…" He trailed off giving her a slow smirk.

Her smile grew and she nodded her head in agreement, leaning forward a bit, "No jerky blonde roommates to annoy the hell out of your guests…" She stated her head tilting to the side a bit, Tyler began leaning towards her.

"No compromising situations…" Tyler whispered before their lips met in a heated kiss.

Tyler's soft hands were cupping her chin, tilting her head back at the perfect angle so the taller boy could kiss her fully. A warm feeling rose in her stomach and fluttered upwards, she couldn't stop herself from lacing her hands around him and pulling him closer to her, falling back on to her bed.

His kisses were irresistible; his body irresistible; he was irresistible.

She had never felt so tempted to go against her better judgment. Tyler was turning her on without really trying. His body hovered over hers; they pulled apart briefly as her hands freed themselves from his hair and slipped to the edge of his wife beater.

Her fingers gripped on to the flimsy material, the definition of his abs showing and making her want him even more, Tyler's hands landed on top of hers stopping her from removing his shirt.

"I want you to know…" His words were corrupted by short breaths.

She sat up a bit, trying to remove his shirt, but he was holding her hands tightly in his, her lips came in contact with his, a smile creeping on her face. "Mmhmmm?" She asked her lips crushed against his neck her short fingernails slowly digging in to his abdomen.

"I'm not like Reid," He whispered in to her mop of messy dark brown hair.

She pulled away from his neck and looked at him, "That's obvious…" She stated giving him a questioningly look, her hands relaxing a bit.

"I mean, that I genuinely like you…" He let his lips brush her ear, sending goose bumps down her arms. "And I don't want to do anything you don't want to do…"

Hailey rested her forehead on the brunette's chest, and couldn't help but smile. He was right he was nothing at all like Reid. She looked up at him, pushing him back to sit down on the foot of her bed. She slowly crawled on top of him, letting her hair hang down in his face, tickling the boy slightly as her smile toyed with him.

"Tyler, you're wonderful…" She stated, letting her hands fool around in his hair, his large hands found their way to her hips as she kissed him softly.

Tyler deepened the kiss hungrily, he pulled her away, but not too far, his blue eyes searched hers shortly and he snuck his hands under the grey hoodie and felt the goose bumps forming on her soft skin.

"I want you to be my girlfriend…" He stated calmly.

Hailey stared at him a bit shocked, actually the entire situation shocked her. She instantly felt bad, she was genuinely starting to like this guy, and he liked her. She forced a playful smile on to her face leaning down a bit.

"Is that a question or a demand?" She asked cocking an eyebrow up at him.

"A little bit of both," He shrugged giving her a sexy look.

"Well then," She scoffed situating herself on top of his body. "I suppose I will have to oblige…" She grinned capturing his lips with hers again.

The next morning Hailey woke up groggily as the alarm on her clock started going off. She tried to roll over on her bed, but crashed in to something hard, and warm. She opened her eyes and saw the muscular back of a boy; she let out a startled scream and covered her mouth trying to not wake him.

She had thought last night was a dream, she peaked under the covers and saw the small piece of clothing covering his body and then at herself she was wearing his wife beater, and nothing else. She sat up, sitting Indian style, reaching over to turn off the stupid clock.

She swallowed hard and the body next to her shifted and turned to look up at her. She sighed; his smile was so infectious even at 5:30 in the morning.

She glanced over at the books strewn all over the dorm floor. They had actually finished their project, between making out and well… the obvious.

"Good morning," She gave him a small smile kissing him softly.

"A good morning it is…" He agreed running his soft finger tips over her bare legs.

Hailey was about to say something when a loud knock came at the door. She looked at Tyler and he gave her a questioning look, she groaned knowing exactly who it was going to be. Aaron. He always seemed to come over in the morning.

She rolled out of bed and got up, Tyler's wife beater stopping just below her plump bottom. She opened the door slightly and crossed her arms over her chest. Tyler sat up in bed resting an arm on his bent knee and waited for Aaron to start talking.

"Good Morning, love…" Aaron's voice was sweet to her, not his normal cocky or arrogant tone.

"G'morning Aaron…" He could see a faint smile on her lips as she pressed the left part of her body in to the door.

"You look good in my clothes," Aaron stated softly, Tyler could see his hand reach out and touch her arm softly.

"Aaron, don't…" She whispered pulling out of his reach slightly.

"What?" He could hear a hint of anger in her voice.

Tyler figured now would be the right time to intervene, she wouldn't have to explain anything. He cleared his throat loudly and pushed the covers off of his tall frame. Hailey turned and the door opened a bit wider and Aaron could see inside.

"Good morning Aaron…" Tyler stated as if it were the most natural thing for him to be in Hailey's room at five thirty in the morning and in nothing but boxers.

"Simms?" Aaron scoffed looking from Hailey to Tyler. "What the hell is going on Hailey?" Aaron growled lowly taking a few steps in to her room.

"Aaron, don't… please…" She pleaded with him. "We've got to get ready for school… I'll see you later, ok?" She asked pushing him gently back in to the hall.

Aaron didn't say anything else he just glared at Hailey before storming off. She shut the door and Tyler grabbed his track pants and pulled them on. He picked up his things as Hailey sat back down on the bed.

She watched him as he leaned down to pick up his things; he stuffed the last of it in his bag and leaned on the bed to get to her. He noted that his hair wasn't spiked up; it was hanging down in his face. She smiled and brushed it off to the side.

"What are you smiling for?" He asked placing a sweet kiss on her lips.

"I like your hair like this…" She whispered biting her bottom lip slowly.

"You do?" He asked running a hand over his flat hair.

"Mmmhmmm," She nodded her head.

Tyler just nodded and headed towards the door, "Do you want to ride with me to school?" He asked.

"Sure," She nodded her head with a smile.

Tyler gave her one last kiss before disappearing in to the hall, shirtless. She fell back on to her bed and let out a heavy sigh.

_Shit_, was the only thing she could think to say at the moment.

Her phone began to ring violently from its location on her nightstand; she crawled to the side of the bed that Tyler had occupied that night. Picking the phone up she already knew who it was going to be.

"Hello master," Her tone was dry as she rolled her green eyes.

"What the hell was that all about?" Aaron's voice came over the phone angry and rose.

"I'm his girlfriend now," Hailey responded almost robotically.

They were words foreign to her tongue, a feeling of guilt washing over her. She felt terrible for what she was doing to Tyler. He was a great guy, and simply amazing.

"But you slept with him?" Aaron asked scoffing.

"Well one thing lead to another last night and… yes…" She nodded her head as if the curly haired boy could see her.

"You're in over your head Hails…" He stated firmly.

"I'm not… I know what I'm doing." She insisted.

_I think._

Aaron sighed heavily over the phone and offered her a ride to school; he hung up on her as soon as Tyler's name came out of her mouth. She let out an exasperated growl and tossed the phone to the other side of the room.

She grabbed her things for the showers and headed their hoping to beat the morning rush. She returned twenty minutes later and turned on her radio, turning the volume up loudly she danced around the room and got ready for school.

Gym Class Heroe's 'Cupid's Chokehold' began to play over the speakers.

"Take a look at my girlfriend; she's the only one I got…" Hailey sang along and the words slowly slipped in to her thought process.

_Girlfriend_, she thought. _I am Tyler Simms' girlfriend…_ a small smile appeared on her face.

The only thoughts crossing her mind were not of the bet she had made with Aaron only nights ago, but the way those pink lips massaged hers, his soft fingertips on her bare skin, the way he knew exactly how to please her.

He did things that she didn't think were possible for Tyler Simms to do. Who knew that the shy, innocent Son of Ipswich was better than the, pronounced, Playboy of the group in bed? And he was hers.

_This is all a part of a bet, Hailey._ She reminded herself.

* * *

_**Now I am going to take my Tyler muse and disappear for awhile... muahaha...** _

_A/N: I have a Pogue/OC fic in the works... I'm not sure if I should continue it or not, let me know if any of my faithful readers would be interested? Thanks!_

**Remember to R&R**


	9. Like a Disease

_**Nothing interesting to say here, enjoy.**_

_**

* * *

**_

**_Chapter 9 - Like a Disease_**

Walking in to Spencer Academy had never really been a big deal to Hailey before, no one ever noticed her other than a few stray friends, and she didn't really mind. But, as soon as she walked through the door holding hands with Tyler Simms, _the_ Tyler Simms, it was an entirely different story.

The entire hallway was full of whispers and stares. Everyone could not believe what they were seeing. Tyler Simms had a _girlfriend_. And said girlfriend was _friends_ with Aaron Abbott, the sworn nemesis of the Sons of Ipswich.

"What is this?" Caleb asked with a proud smile as he slapped a hand on Tyler's back.

"This, this is my girlfriend…" Tyler stated with a small smirk playing on his lips.

"Way to go baby boy," Pogue stated as he knocked fists with the younger boy.

Hailey's cheeks flushed a bit as Kate gave her a small wave as did Sarah. The two girls grabbed her away from her new boyfriend and started gabbing on about how they needed to get together, and how it was about time that the baby of the group finally got a girl.

"What is she doing talking with Kate and Sarah like she belongs?" Reid asked annoyed seeing Hailey within his immediate circle of friends.

"She does belong," Caleb shrugged his shoulders smirking at Reid, for some reason seeing Reid irritated and displeased amused the older Son of Ipswich.

"Since when?" Reid rolled his pale blue eyes looking over at Tyler who was smiling like an idiot. Then it dawned on him, Tyler didn't come back to the dorm before he went to sleep last night, and was in and out of their dorm this morning before he could even get in a good morning. "You didn't…" He trailed off in shock.

"I did…" Tyler nodded his head a wicked grin on his face.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Reid asked shoving him in to the locker.

"What is your deal, Reid?" Pogue asked confused.

"She hangs out with Aaron fuckin' Abbott man, she's bad news…" Reid stated rolling his eyes at them.

"She was ok for you, but for me it's different?" Tyler asked getting upset with his friend.

"When she was with me she wasn't friends with that prick…" Reid stated growling lowly at his best friend.

"Tyler hangs out with you, right Reid?" Caleb asked offering a suggestion.

"Of course he's my best friend," Reid snapped at the 'leader'.

"But Tyler doesn't act like you at all, does he?" Caleb questioned.

"No, but…"

He was cut off by Caleb, "If he's happy dating Hailey let him be… you should be happy for him; not chastising him for liking a girl that you threw to the curb…"

"It's not eve about that, I don't get a good vibe from that girl…" Reid pushed.

"Leave it alone, Reid…" Tyler glared at him.

"Fine, whatever man… you want to fuck up your life… that's your own damn fault not mine…" He yelled storming past the guys and the girls, nearly knocking Hailey over in the process.

"What was that all about?" Sarah asked adjusting her book bag on her shoulder.

"Someone obviously didn't get laid last night," Kate remarked watching the blonde push his way through the crowded hall.

"You ok?" Hailey asked looking at Tyler who seemed more than bothered by Reid's outburst and exit.

"I'm fine, how about you, he nearly bulldozed you over t here…" He stated placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm ok," She nodded with a smile. "You want to head to class?" She asked looking at the group around them and then back to Tyler.

"Yeah, let's go…" He agreed grabbing her hand and tossing his friends a nod before escaping the hallway to their first period class.

"I hope I didn't cause any bad blood, I know that Reid really doesn't care for me that much…" She said softly as they entered the classroom, Rid was already sitting in his assigned seat and shooting daggers at her.

"Don't worry about Reid; he's just got something shoved up his ass… probably PMSing or something…" Tyler waved a hand in the blonde's direction; he walked her up to her seat. "He'll be over it before the end of the day…"

"Are you sure?" She asked concerned.

"I'm positive; don't worry your pretty little head off…" He grinned placing a kiss on her lips and returning to his seat.

_Great_, she groaned seeing Aaron ascending the stairs just as Tyler was going down. Their shoulders bumped roughly and Tyler shot Aaron a rough glare as he sat down next to his blonde roommate.

"Knock it off Aaron," She barked at him.

"You are in deep, Hails…" Aaron whispered harshly to her.

"What are you jealous or something?" She asked glaring at him.

"Jealous?" Aaron scoffed. He lowered his voice slightly and he got closer to her, "You are out of your mind Hails, you like him… I can see it in your eyes…" He spat.

"Ok so maybe I might like him a little bit, hell I'm attracted to him for God's sakes… but I'm not in over my head…" She defended herself.

"Jesus Christ…" The blue-eyed boy next to her cursed. "This is ridiculous…" He slumped down in his chair.

"You're acting like a two-year old…" Hailey snapped. "Grow up…" She sighed pushing thoughts of Aaron, Reid and Tyler out of her mind.

The day continued on and Reid brushed her off, and Aaron found every excuse in the book to get her attention. At lunch he did everything but get on his hands and knees to get her to eat lunch with him and the guys. And Tyler, Tyler couldn't have been more perfect.

The final bell rang and Hailey left her class and met up with Tyler he was standing for her by her locker with that cute grin adorning his handsome face. She could have melted right there, she opened her locker and Aaron appeared out of nowhere.

"Let's go get movie night started, babe…" Aaron said coolly ignoring the fact that Tyler was standing right next to her.

"Babe?" Tyler asked moving from beside Hailey to behind her staring Aaron down. "I'd prefer it if you didn't call my girlfriend babe, love or any of your other pet names you have for her…"

"You've been dating all of what a day?" Aaron scoffed shaking his head. "I'll call her what I want… got that Simms?" Aaron poked his finger in to his chest.

"Aaron," Hailey stated in a warning tone. "Don't start…" She shook her head. "I'd appreciate it if you respected me enough to respect Tyler's wishes…" She stated glaring at him.

Aaron pursed his lips together, his nose twitching wildly at the scene unfolding before him, "Fine," He growled. "But I'm not doing this for you Simms, got that…" He gave Tyler another shove before glancing at Hailey. "Meet me in my room at 5?" He asked.

"Yeah," She nodded slightly watching him walk away. "I'm sorry about him," She whispered to Tyler resting her hand on his shoulder.

"It's ok… don't worry about it…" He rested his hand on the small of her back as she closed her locker and turned to him.

"You're perfect, you know that?" She asked him with a large smile on her face, placing a kiss on his lips.

"Me?" Tyler asked surprised. "Perfect?"

"Yes," She nodded her head. "You have got to be the best boyfriend, ever…" She grinned as they walked out to his car.

Tyler let a small blush appear on his cheeks, "C'mon you've got to be kidding…" He laughed shaking his head.

"Tyler, seriously you're smart, you're sweet, you're caring, and you're fucking hot…I couldn't make a better boyfriend if I tried…" She pulled him closer to her and kissed him.

She wasn't lying, he was perfect. She sighed heavily and thought about Aaron, Aaron and this god for saken bet. Why the hell did she go through with it in the first place? She glanced down in to her open book bag and noticed one of her books was missing.

"Shit," She whispered pulling away from Tyler.

"What's wrong?" he asked looking at her concerned.

"I forgot my Trig book; I've got to go grab it…" She stated glancing up at him. "Can you wait for me for a couple of minutes?" She asked.

"Of course," He nodded sitting down on his bumper he watched her run back up the stairs of Spencer's entrance and in to the building.

Hailey adjusted her strap and shook her head, between the fighting of Aaron and Tyler she had forgotten to grab her Trigonometry book, and Professor Rodriguez had assigned forty something problems that night for homework.

"Old witch," She whispered softly spinning the combination to her locker in easily.

"You don't fool me," His voice made her jump out of her own skin. She turned to see her worst nightmare standing next to her coolly leaning up against the lockers that smug smile of his in place.

"Go to hell, Garwin…" She mused pulling out her trigonometry book.

"Then we'll be together for ever, babe…" He smirked coming closer to her, making her back up in to her own locker.

"Don't call me that," She spat at him.

The smirk never left his face as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her closer to his body, her chest pushed up against his, his lips grazing over her face slowly as he looked down at her.

"Isn't Tyler supposed to be your best friend?" She asked him her voice shaking.

"He is my best friend," Reid snapped at her.

"Then why are you harassing his girlfriend?" She questioned pushing away from him.

Reid looked down at her with a scowl, "I can't believe he asked _you_ out," Reid stated harshly, narrowing his eyes in on her.

"What is your problem Reid?" She asked shoving him off of her with as much force as she possibly could. "You _dumped _me, remember?" She asked harshly. "You broke up with me in front of the _entire_ student body…" She poked her bony finger in to his chest. "You humiliated me in front of _everyone_…" She continued her mild rant. "You didn't talk to me again until you found out that I liked Tyler." She noted.

"That's not true," Reid scoffed looking at her like she had lost her mind.

"Oh it's true, damn true…" She pushed. "I think that you were so pissed off at me when I said that Tyler was better looking than you; you couldn't let it go…" She shook her head. "No, you just couldn't handle it, not the truth…" She smirked at the thought.

"It's because its bullshit and we both know it…" Reid stated staring her straight in the eye, who was she to tell him that Tyler was better looking than him? "I could have any girl in this school just like that," He snapped his fingers. "Including you," He stated leering down at her. "Oh wait, I already had you…" He mocked her.

Her mouth fell open and she glared up at him, "Here's another slap in the face for you Reid Garwin, Tyler is a better lover than you ever will be…" She glared up at him and pushed past him, quickening her pace when she heard him call her name.

"Hailey!" He yelled after her, his temper blasting, his face red. "Hailey Gregory, get your ass over here now!" He screamed.

He was seeing red by the time her body disappeared from sight. He started storming out after her, seeing her run to Tyler who was waiting by his Black Hummer for her looking quite bored. Reid ran to catch up with them and grabbed her by the arm before pulling her in to an intense lip lock, right in front of Tyler.

"What the hell?" Tyler yelled trying his best to get between the two. He finally gave Reid one hell of a push and the blonde was on his ass.

Hailey stared at Reid in complete shock as Tyler stood over his best friend bemused.

"What the fuck, Reid?" Tyler asked holding Hailey back away from the blonde as he stood up.

"Why don't you ask your fucking girlfriend," Reid stated glaring at Hailey who now looked confused.

"You're the one who freakin' attacked me Reid, Jesus Christ!" She stated pulling her arm out of Tyler's grasp. "You are the one who can't handle the truth," She pointed to him. "You…"

"Hailey, calm down…" Tyler stated trying to gather his thoughts.

"Calm down?" Hailey asked looking at him in disbelief. "Your bastard of a best friend just forced himself on me and wants to blame it on me like I came on to him!" She pointed to the blonde.

"Hailey, let me handle this ok?" Tyler asked her in a calming voice.

Hailey took a deep breath and looked Tyler in the eye; she could see a hint of pain in those blue eyes and felt like punching Reid herself. She nodded her head and stood back as Tyler turned around and glared at Reid.

"Don't think I'm stupid Reid or naïve…" Tyler warned him pointing a long finger in his face. "I know that you had Hailey first, and I was ok living with the fact that you got to my girlfriend before I did…" He bit his lip forcing away the urge to hit his best friend. "But when you start feeling her up in the middle of the hallway, or cornering her…" Reid looked at him a bit bewildered. "Didn't think I knew?" He laughed. "I knew but I tried to push it out of my head, because it was just your way to piss off Aaron, well know you're pissing me off too…" He stated glaring at him.

"Tyler… I…" Reid started to say something.

"Look, Reid… I don't want to hear it ok…" Tyler shook his head. "I know you're used to getting everything you want, but guess what…" The blue-eyed brunette stared the blonde down hard. "You're not getting Hailey…"

With that Tyler turned around and walked Hailey to the Black Hummer, she was in complete shock at what had just happened. She sat in the passenger's seat of her _boyfriend's_ car and stared straight ahead. Tyler hopped in next to her and started the vehicle, without another thought he pulled out of the parking spot not daring to look back at the blonde who was gaping at them in complete shock.

"I can't believe you just did that," Hailey stated softly.

"What did you expect me to do Hails?" He asked. "I was sick and tired of hearing the shit through the grapevine…" He shook his mop of dark brown hair and glanced over at her. "He's my best friend, yeah… but sometimes he takes advantage of that…"

"Tyler, I'm sorry… I didn't…" She was interrupted when he put a finger to her lips.

"Don't apologize for him, ok… you didn't kiss him… you didn't ask him to kiss you… I know." He stated giving her a reassuring smile.

"But I don't want you two fighting, not because of me… or what happened last year or anything…" She shook her head and looked down at her hands. "I feel terrible…"

"Look, things between me and Reid will blow over in a couple of days… we're like brother's so we'll apologize… do our manly little hug thing and everything will be cool. But he needed to be put in his place…" Tyler smiled at her.

"Thank you," She stated with a large grin on her face.

Tyler didn't say anything else he walked her to her dorm, giving her a breath taking kiss and leaving her wanting more. She sighed and closed the door; she had just caused an enormous fight between the two best friends.

No matter what Tyler told her she still felt horrible. But she was sick and tired of Reid being so nasty to her, and harassing her, it was starting to irk her last nerve. Maybe that would teach him a lesson and he would leave her the hell alone.

_Doubtful, s_he thought sadly, _it's Reid Garwin_, he didn't just give up. That wasn't his style unfortunately she found that out the hard way last year.

She changed her clothes and walked up to Aaron's room ready for her movie night with her best friend.

_I sure hope he took his foot out of his ass_, she thought knocking on the door to his dorm.

Aaron opened the door with a large smile on his face, "Maybe you have more control over the situation than I thought," He mused letting her past him.

"That was not supposed to happen," Hailey stated knowing that he had probably been lacking around waiting for her to leave with Tyler after school. "And what are you, stalking me now?" She asked falling on to his bed.

"Oh c'mon, Tyler is pissed off at Reid, and Garwin is pissed at him… it's perfect… you're like a disease…" He remarked with an evil grin on his lips.

"A disease?" Hailey asked in disbelief. "Gee, thanks Aaron…"

"In a good way, babe…" He stated falling in to place next to her.

* * *

**Please remember to R&R!**


	10. Ulterior Motives

**This chapter is a bit boring, booo... but it's setting up for later chapters... I dub thee 'filler'.**

_**

* * *

**_

**_Chapter 10 - Ulterior Motives_**

The first movie credits rolled and Hailey found herself feeling odd. Their movie nights usually weren't like this, they were usually goofing around and messing with each other, laughing at the stupidness of the movie or mocking the characters, but he had stayed completely silent during the first movie, and so had she.

Aaron got up and put in the second movie, Blades of Glory, now she knew things would have to get interesting with this one. Aaron fell back on the bed next to her his shoulder bumping in to hers, she knocked hers back in to his and he laughed.

It was music to her ears during this uncomfortable situation, she looked over at him, and his blue eyes were focused straight ahead. She turned her attention back to the TV and didn't notice the slow smirk that appeared on his face shortly after.

The brunette's hand slowly crept over her back, drawing her closer to his body. She didn't argue at first, but when his fingers began to graze over her chest she pushed him away and sat up, he gave her an amused look and she frowned.

"C'mon Hails," He pulled her towards him; he was now propped up on one elbow.

"No, Aaron…" She shook her head.

"What is wrong with you?" He asked pursing his lips together. "We always fool around when we're watching movies…" He pressed.

"That was before I had a boyfriend…" She stated moving to the side of the bed.

"Oh please, it's not even like you're really dating him…" Aaron scoffed sitting up to look at her.

She furrowed her brow and shook her head, "It doesn't matter…" She stated glaring at him. "I don't want to fool around with you…" She pushed.

Aaron rolled his blue eyes and pulled himself off of the bed, "When did you suddenly gain a conscience?" He asked.

"I'm dating Tyler, real or fake and it's already not fair to him that I'm doing this stupid bet… and then to fool around with you… just so you can probably rub it in his face later… I'm not doing it…" She argued.

"Oh c'mon Hails, don't play this fucking game with me..." Aaron laughed. "You are in this just as much as I am…" He pointed out. "Hell you've already got him tied around your little finger…"

"I said no, ok?" She walked towards the door.

"Hails, don't do this…" Aaron met her at the door.

"Obviously you haven't realized that I'm not Kira, Aaron… and I never will be…" She shook her head. "I don't see you like that… before yeah I was single and you're good looking…" She shook her head.

"So you're fake dating Tyler Simms, making out with him and fucking him… but I'm your best friend and you feel nothing?" He laughed.

She stared him in the eye and without another word left his room. She watched him slam the door and curse loudly as she hurried down the hall, she groaned, why did men have to be so difficult?

Why was Aaron doing this to her?

Better yet why was she letting Aaron do this to her?

Why had she agreed to this stupid bet in the first place?

_You're an idiot that's why…_ She thought to herself as she walked down to her floor. _An idiot that has a weakness for incredibly good looking guys._ She added shaking her head.

She opened her dorm room and walked in, she let out a frightened scream at the scene before her. She saw Reid sitting on her bed holding up a pair of sexy purple satin panties. She held her chest and stared at him.

"Hello, Hails…" Reid smirked at her.

"Reid?" Her tone was questioning. "How the hell did you get in here?" She asked shocked.

"I have my ways…" He stated holding up a credit card, that incredulous smirk never leaving his face.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked closing the door behind her hoping that no one heard them talking in her room.

"I don't trust you, Hailey…" He stated getting off of her bed, dropping her purple satin panties on the ground and shoving his hand in to his pocket. "I never have," He growled lowly.

"What have I ever done to you to make you think that I'm not trustworthy?" She asked her knees visibly shaking from her anxiety.

"You're _friends_ with Aaron Abbott, that says a LOT about your character…" He pushed, getting closer and closer to her.

"Well you wont' have to worry about that for too long, Aaron is pissed at me…" She turned away from him, trying to get out of his intense gaze. "Is that the only reason you came here?" She asked pushing her underwear drawer clothes. "To harass me, go through my goddamn underwear drawer and scare the fucking hell out of me?" She asked turning to look at him a scowl on her face.

"Perhaps," He stated that damned smirk still on his handsome face.

"Don't you have something better to do, like graveling to your _best_ friend, who's girlfriend you practically molested in front of him?" She asked her hands on her thin waist, her eyes narrowed in on him. Before he could answer she continued, "How could you do that to him, just to spite me?" She asked. "He's your best friend for Christ's sakes Reid… get over your goddamn self and wake the fuck up…"

Reid's smirk fell from his face, his brown unraveled as he stared at her in shock, she had just told him the truth and it hurt. He pursed his lips together and sighed heavily.

"You're right…" He stated his shoulders slumping forward.

"Excuse me?" She nearly choked on her words.

"I said you're right…" He reiterated.

She smiled slowly and nodded her head, "Damn straight, I am…" She pushed past him and to the door. "I think you have an apology to give…" She stated.

Reid stared at her for a moment, hard.

"I still don't trust you," He stated for the record. "I'm still watching you, but you're right… he is my best friend…" Reid straightened himself out and walked out of the room.

Hailey closed the door behind him and rested against it, she couldn't continue like this…there was no way. Aaron would get pissed off and say something, or Reid would start snooping around and find out. She sighed wringing her hands out, why did she feel so bad?

Why couldn't she just go through with the bet and be a cold hearted bitch?

_Because you care about him,_ she thought to herself. _You want to be with him…._ She sighed heavily.

"I can't do this…" She whispered shaking her head. "I can't do this to myself, and I can't do this to Tyler…" She pushed off of the door and grabbed her cell phone.

She dialed the familiar number and waited for him to pick up. But, he didn't. She knew he was pissed at her for walking out on him, for basically telling him to fuck off. But she couldn't help it, she felt nothing for him… nothing but friendship.

She tried his number again and still no answer. She grabbed her coat and slipped it on, she needed to clear her head… and she knew just the place to do it.

She drove to her favorite park in Ipswich, it was serene and secluded and she didn't have any worries, well except for it being well past 9 o'clock at night, but the lamps along the trails helped illuminate the walkways.

She had a million and one things running through her head at the time. What was she going to do about the bet with Aaron? Could she just drop it and pretend like it didn't happen, and continue her relationship with Tyler? Would Aaron get so pissed off at her that he would divulge her secret and ruin everything? And what about Reid? Would he somehow find out about the bet between her and Aaron in order to hurt her and his best friend?

"It's awfully late for you to be out here by yourself…" A voice startled her.

She whipped around holding a hand to her chest and stared at the handsome brunette before her. She stared at him and felt her stomach do back flips, he had that affect on her.

"Tyler, what are you doing here?" She asked quietly as he approached her, his hands stuffed in to his pockets.

"I was on my way to come see you when I ran in to Reid who was coincidentally coming back form talking to you…" He stated with a lazy shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh," She looked him over, looking for a sign of emotion, he was straight faced at the moment, no emotion showing in those pools of blue.

"He told me about your little chat…" Tyler sighed and looked over at her. "Thank you," He broke in to a small smile.

"For what?" She asked confused.

"For making him realize that he's a self-centered, egomaniac…" Tyler laughed a bit as he shook his head. "He always wants to best everyone, even me…" He chewed on his bottom lip.

"So you followed me out here to thank me?" She asked a sly smile forming on her lips.

"Perhaps that was part of it, but I had an ulterior motive…" He grinned his arm circling around her waist.

She grinned, her lips pulled tight over her teeth as he pulled her closer to him, she could smell his cologne and it was as seductive as it was the night they had slept together. Everything about him made her want to throw him down and ravish him. His hair that he had kept un-gelled and down in his eyes slightly, and those blue eyes were enough to drive her wild.

"Ulterior Motives, huh?" She questioned her eyebrow sparking up in interest.

"Yup," He moved his lips closer to hers.

"I think I'd like to know what these motives are…" She grinned at him wickedly.

"Well now if you'd just follow me…" Tyler grinned pulling her towards her parked car.

"Where's your car?" She asked looking for the Black Hummer.

"I told Reid he owed me big time, and made him drop me off…" Tyler's intense blue gaze mesmerized her that she didn't even think twice about questioning him.

"Let's get the hell out of here…" She suggested.

Tyler smirked grabbing her keys from her and driving them back to the dorm. Within a few minute and a bit of small talk, they were back on their feet and heading in to the dark and creepy looking dormitory.

"This place gives me the creeps at night," Hailey shifted uncomfortable as Tyler came up behind her grabbing her waist and scaring the hell out of her. "Jesus Christ almighty…" The cried out. She swatted at him as he laughed at her, "Don't do that to me!" She begged.

"I'm sorry; I just couldn't help it…" He grinned pulling her closer to his body.

She relaxed a bit and grinned turning in his grasp, "Now, about those ulterior motives…"

* * *

**I would so rape him right now... hahah... remember to R&R!**


	11. Dinner with a Friend

**Nothing interesting to say... **

* * *

**Chapter 11 – **_**Dinner with a Friend**_

Aaron watched as Hailey walked in to the classroom, she was laughing and joking with her _boyfriend_. The blue eyed brunette's arm was around her waist securely, making sure everyone knew that the pretty brunette girl was his.

His teeth clenched as he leaned forward, his eyes setting on the blonde that was staring at the two kids. Something was different about the way he was looking at them, recently he had been boring holes in to the couple, but now, now it seemed different.

"Hey," Her voice brought him out of his daze.

He looked up and those green eyes were staring back at him, he felt the need to pull her down and turn her back in to the girl she was _before_ this stupid bet. Maybe he needed to call off the bet itself, maybe then she would go back to normal.

_No_, Aaron shook his head, _that wouldn't work at all_.

"Hey," he responded back as she sat down.

"I'm sorry about last night," She whispered to him.

"No, I should be sorry…" He started glancing at her his expression hard to read. "Let me take you out tonight for dinner, to make up for it…" He stated.

He smiled at her; he needed to be back in her good graces. He didn't need her to be mad at him, and he couldn't stay mad at her. She smiled at him and looked down at her lap.

"Well Tyler and I haven't made any plans, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind…" She stated glancing down at her boyfriend who was talking with the blonde next to him.

"I'm glad to have his approval to go out with _my_ best friend…" He pressed.

"Aaron," She said his name firmly as he glanced at her.

"Sorry," He muttered the apology.

He didn't say much else to her, and vice versa throughout the rest of the class. The rest of the day was awkward for her; Aaron didn't say much and when he did he was abnormally nice, Reid left her alone, except once to borrow a pencil and Tyler was her only constant.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tyler asked glancing down at the dark haired girl.

"Nothing," She forced a smile out as she pulled her books in to her bag.

"Are you sure?" He questioned leaning coolly against the lockers.

She forced a smile and nodded, "Of course, why would something be wrong?" She asked leaning up and placing a kiss on his lips as she closed her locker.

"Oh I don't know… you just look a bit spaced out…" He stated grabbing her hand and walking with her out to his truck.

"Just thinking, that's all…" She responded, hoping the brunette would drop the subject.

"About?" Tyler asked as he pulled out his keys.

She looked up at him; those blue eyes stared down at her as he hit the button to unlock the doors to his precious Hummer. He pulled her door open and she looked up at him as she got in.

"What a fantastic boyfriend I have…" She smiled.

"Well that's a given…" He smirked giving her a wink before jogging around to his side of the car.

"You've been hanging out with Reid too much again…" She noted.

Tyler put the keys in the ignition and shrugged his shoulders with a cheesy smile. She shook her head and he drove them both back to the dorms. Tyler grabbed her things and walked her up to her room.

"So, I'll see you tonight?" He asked in a hopeful tone.

"Actually," She sucked in a deep breath.

"Yes?" Tyler's eyebrow arched in question.

"I promised Aaron I'd go to dinner with him tonight…" She stated forcing another smile.

"Oh," Tyler's face fell a bit disappointed but he recovered with another one of his charming smiles. "Maybe we can meet up at Nicky's afterward?" He asked.

"Definitely," She nodded her head, grateful that he was so good to her.

"Alright, call me when you get done with your dinner…" He winked to her leaving an innocent kiss on her cheek.

"I will," She nodded closing her door.

A wave of disappointment washed over her. She wanted to go out with Tyler tonight, and not Aaron. She fell back on to her bed and stared at the ceiling, how could she get herself out of this?

"You're an idiot…" She whispered to herself before rolling on to her stomach. She fought with the idea to cancel with Aaron, but that would just piss him off and make him suspicious. "A big idiot…" She cursed herself.

Why was she worried about pissing Aaron off? It wasn't like she hadn't done it to him many times before.

_Tyler_, she thought. He was going to use it against her, she knew it. If she broke their bet, or pissed Aaron off she wouldn't put it passed the curly-haired boy to tell Tyler about their little bet.

But would Tyler believe him?

More than likely, as much as she liked Tyler he could be a bit naive sometimes.

She let out a frustrated screech and dug her face in to a pillow not wanting to go through with her 'dinner' with Aaron. She knew him too well to know that he was trying to get back on her good side after their movie night. She wasn't as stupid as Aaron thought she was.

She could read right through him, sometimes.

After a small stay in the dorm showers, and then getting dressed she was ready to meet up with Aaron. He waited outside next to his Mercedes, a present from his Daddy-dearest, another 'I'm sorry I'm not around, here's an expensive present to make up for it' gifts.

"You look great," Aaron stated raking his fingers through his wet curls.

"As do you," She grinned as he opened the door for her, something that she had never seen Aaron do before. He must be taking notes from Tyler. "That is out of character," She muttered sarcastically.

Aaron caught her sarcasm and flashed her a smile as he got in to the driver's side, "What can I say? I'm turning over a new leaf…"

"My ass," She snorted at the thought. Aaron narrowed his eyes at her. "What?" She asked casually. "It's true Aaron, you're really not known for your… chivalry…" She quirked an eyebrow up at him.

"Made times are a-changing?" He offered starting the car.

"I doubt it…" She scoffed looking out of the window.

"What is with the sarcasm?" He asked stopping as he backed out of the parking space.

"I'm sorry am I offending you?" She asked, what was wrong with her? Why couldn't she hold her tongue? She was just going to piss him off.

"Yeah, you are…" Aaron mused glancing over at her, seeing the shocked look on her face. Was she shocked at his words, or was she thinking something else in her head, he wasn't quiet sure. "You know ever since you started hanging out with that faggot, you've been acting like a completely different person…" He continued. "You use to hate them as much as I do…" He reminded her.

"I never hated _them_, I hated _him_." She corrected.

"You could have fooled me," Aaron stated shaking his head.

"Could we stop talking about them, and this stupid bet?" She asked getting angry with his weird obsession with the Sons of Ipswich. "I thought we were supposed to have dinner and have fun… like we normally do…"

"How can we have fun like we normally do… if you're not even the same person you used to be?" Aaron asked shaking his head. "Maybe you're right… maybe this is a stupid bet…" He started to think. "Maybe I should just call it off…"

"No," She shook her head, her outburst came a little too quickly for Aaron's liking. "I said I would do it, so I'm doing it…" She stated grabbing hold of Aaron's hand and rubbing her thumb over it softly.

"What is up with you?" Aaron asked knitting his eyebrows together in confusion.

"Nothing, I'm just… just stressed out I guess…" She fumbled over her words.

Why didn't she want Aaron to call off the bet? She wondered. It would make things a hell of a lot easier for both of them. She could continue dating Tyler, or could she? Would Aaron go ballistic on her and tell Tyler their secret? She pursed her lips together and Aaron glanced at her.

"I'm sorry for being a bitch earlier…" She apologized. "I have this new project to do and I'm… I'm just really stressed out about it…" She lied forcing a smile on to her face as she leaned over and placed a kiss on Aaron's cheek.

Aaron smiled slightly, glancing at her as he gave her hand a squeeze, "Now this is better…" He stated rubbing his callused thumb over her smooth skin.

She smiled and looked ahead, silently cursing herself for leading him further in to his demented thoughts of what they might be. She pinched her face together in concentration, she had to think of a way out of this mess before it got messier or uglier than it already was.

Aaron pulled up to the restaurant and ran around to open the door for Hailey, she sighed not really knowing what to say or do at this point. Aaron didn't say anything he grabbed her hand and lead her in to the Steak House.

"Hey Aaron…" She grabbed his attention as he finished talking to the hostess.

"Yeah, love… what's up?" He asked.

"After we eat, do you want to go to Nicky's?" She asked with a small smile.

Aaron narrowed his eyes at her and took a deep breath before answering, "I suppose…" He agreed.

Hailey smiled and followed the hostess, still holding hands with Aaron.

After was seemed to be the longest dinner she had ever eaten Hailey excused herself to the rest room. For some reason she felt like she had to be secretive when calling her own boyfriend, as to not piss off Aaron any more than she had.

She pulled out her cell phone and stood in the hallway of the bathroom; she dialed Tyler's number by heart and waited patiently for him to answer the phone. After three rings his voicemail picked up. Hailey furrowed her brow and sighed leaving him a message.

She walked in to the bathroom, handled her business and walked back out meeting Aaron at the front door. She glanced back at the table and looked to see the waitress picking up the several bills that were waiting for her. Shrugging her shoulders she exited the restaurant with Aaron.

They drove to Nicky's and she noticed Tyler's Hummer and wondered why he didn't answer the phone or call her back. She figured he was busy playing pool with Reid, and didn't hear his phone ringing.

Pursing her lips together she entered slowly behind Aaron who was greeted immediately by his friends, Ryan and Brody. Her green eyes scanned the familiar bar in hopes to locate her boyfriend, and his blonde best friend. She didn't spot them immediately; they weren't in their normal spot hustling by the pool tables.

"What's up Hails?" Ryan asked his arm slipping around her shoulders casually.

"Not much Rye, what's up with you?" She asked looking up to meet his brown eyes.

"Eh, got my ass handed to me in pool by your lover boy and his fuckin' gay ass roommate…" He muttered glancing at Brody who rolled his green eyes.

"Really?" She asked sounding a bit interested, too interested for Aaron's taste. "Do you know where lover boy is?" She asked glancing around the bar again.

"You came here with me, remember?" Aaron asked pushing Ryan's arm off of her and pulling her closer to him.

"Yes, but he is my boyfriend… remember Aaron?" She stated pushing away from him.

"The last I saw he was running in to the alley behind the bar…with the rest of his comrades…" Brody shrugged motioning towards the backdoor of Nicky's.

"I'm gonna go make sure everything's copasetic… I'll be back in a flash…" She grinned and escaping before Aaron ha a chance to argue with her.

She walked to the back of the bar and could hear the arguing coming form the four different voices. They were all arguing about something, what she didn't know… but if she waited a bit longer she could probably find out.

Tyler and Reid were standing in front of Caleb and Pogue, all four boys showing that they were not very pleased with the others. Caleb and Reid were almost nose to nose as Tyler and Pogue stared each other down.

"Why don't you mind your own fucking business Caleb?" Reid asked shoving the older boy slightly.

"When it comes to this," The dark haired boy motioned to the four of them, "It is my business…" He mused.

"C'mon Caleb, we've been through this before… if Reid wants to waste away his life, let him do it, man…" Pogue countered glaring at Tyler who was always there to back up his best friend.

"It's not going to hurt anyone; I'm months away from ascending, chill the fuck out…" Reid glared at Caleb.

"No one saw him Use; it's not big deal…" Tyler stated trying to force himself between Caleb and Reid.

"Keep your voice down," Pogue glared at Tyler who was really starting to get on his nerves.

Hailey stood back by the door wondering what they meant by their conversation. What was Reid using? Was he doing drugs?

What did they mean by ascending? Of course she knew the meaning of the word, but what did it mean to them? But the meaning of it in the context they were using it? She wasn't quiet sure.

Straining to hear as their voices got lower she could see the anger etched in Reid's face, he did not like being told what to do. That was obvious.

"Do you really think that is a great idea, Reid?" Caleb asked glaring at the boy. "To go around and Use whenever you feel fit?" His naturally large eyes were now in tiny slits as he narrowed his attack on the blonde.

"Why not, we've got it; why not use it to our advantage while we still can?" Reid questioned. "Obviously you can't since you've ascended… but me and Ty… we've still got a few months before that happens…"

"What part of 'It's Addictive' do you not understand?" Pogue pushed getting in the middle of the mix.

_Addictive?_ Hailey's thoughts seemed louder than the boys talking. _Ascending? Using? Addiction… what the hell is going on with these guys?_ She wondered.

"Someone's listening…" Caleb stated quietly.

"What do you mean…" Reid trailed off and then shut up as soon as he heard footsteps towards the door.

The four guys looked up and Hailey had finally made herself known to the four guys. She put on an innocent and confused look as she took a step down towards the alley.

"Hails, what are you doing back here?" Tyler asked his brow knitting together, worried about what she may have heard.

"I called you after I left the restaurant and you didn't answer, when I got here Brody said he saw you guys come back here… so I came back to make sure everything was ok…" She gave him a small innocent smile.

The group of four seemed to have relaxed a bit and the tension seemed to have released from the air. Tyler gave Reid a small pat on the shoulder before walking past Caleb and Pogue and to his girlfriend.

"Is everything ok?" She asked curiously; wondering if he would let her in on what was going on outside.

"Everything's fine… just Caleb and Reid's weekly fight…" He shrugged his shoulders, taking a quick glance behind him to make sure that his three friends were following him.

"Do they do this every weekend?" She asked with a small laugh.

Tyler glanced down at her and gave her a small nod, "Afraid so…" He smiled placing his lips to her temple in a sweet gesture. "So how was dinner?" He asked.

"It was ok, I guess…." She answered with a melodramatic sigh.

"Ok you guess?" Tyler asked taking a seat at a table close to where Sarah and Kate were sitting.

"Aaron was just getting on my nerves a bit, that's all…" She shrugged off the feeling in the pit of her stomach as his hand brushed hers.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm glad you're here…" Tyler whispered leaning in to her.

Hailey smiled and brushed her lips against his, "Me too,"

* * *

**Please remember to R&R:)**


	12. Rumors

**This is a short chapter, a bit of a filler, because the real interesting stuff is about to go down... **

* * *

**Chapter 12 – **_**Rumors**_

The weekend passed by quickly for Hailey, she was able to juggle Aaron and Tyler equally. She even got to spend some time with Sarah and Kate, some real girl-to-girl time. She felt that she was really able to be herself around them and felt completely comfortable.

Monday rolled around and Hailey found herself walking down the halls alone, feeling very out of place. Everyone was whispering and staring at her like she had just murdered someone. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion as to what was going on and stopped at her locker.

_What the hell is everyone staring at?_ She thought to herself.

"Hails," The voice of her male best friend tore her out of her thoughts.

"Hey Aaron, what's up?" She asked noticing that a few people stopped to see them interact.

"I just wanted to apologize a head of time…" His words trailed off as she felt a small tug on her arm. She turned around to see Tyler standing behind her, shooting daggers at Aaron.

"What is going on?" Hailey asked confused.

"You should ask your _best friend_ about that…" Tyler remarked as Hailey shut her locker and turned to face the two of them.

"Does this have something to do with why everyone is staring and whispering about me?" She asked raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"Yes," Aaron nodded glaring at Tyler. "That's what I wanted to apologize for…" He stated emphasizing his words in Tyler's direction. "Someone saw us at the Steak House Friday, and that someone told Kira… and you know how she is…" Aaron stated.

"Great so now the entire student body knows that I went out to dinner with you?" She smirked shaking her head at her best friend.

"Oh it gets better," Tyler insisted looking at Aaron his thick lips pursed together in an angry scowl. "Tell her about Sydney…"

"Sydney? Sydney McAllister?" Hailey asked confused. "What does she have to do with this?"

"Well she asked me about Friday and…" Aaron started to say looking down at the ground.

"And he said in 'not so many words' that you two were together…" Tyler stated furiously shoving Aaron Abbott.

"Tyler calm down," Hailey stated putting a hand to his firm chest. "Aaron is that true?" She asked turning to the blue eyed teen.

"Yes and No…" Aaron stated looking anywhere but at Hailey.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hailey questioned.

"I didn't confirm, nor did I deny it…" Aaron stated honestly.

"Aaron!" Now it was Hailey's turn to shove him. "We are not dating…" She stated glaring at him. "I am dating TYLER, not you…" She said it loud enough so everyone could hear.

"I knew it!" Reid's voice cut in to their conversation and Hailey's oncoming rant. "I knew there was something fishing going on with this…" Reid pointed out looking at Hailey with disgust apparent in his features.

"Reid you've got it all wrong," Hailey shook her head. "I went to dinner with Aaron as friends…" She insisted. "I even told Tyler that…"

"She did, it's cool Reid…" Tyler nodded his head and pulled Hailey back from the blonde and her sulking best friend. "C'mon lets get to class…" He stated shooting a sharp look in Aaron's direction.

"I'll be there in a second I want to talk to Aaron in private…" She stated giving him a deserved glare, and giving Tyler a sweet kiss on the cheek.

He nodded and dragged Reid with him. Hailey took hold of Aaron by the collar of his shirt and dragged him in to an empty class room, she pushed him towards a desk and the older boy looked at her shocked.

"What the hell are you trying to do Aaron?" She asked getting angry with him. She wasn't sure why she was so mad, it wasn't completely his fault, but he didn't deny it when Sydney McAllister, Kira Snider's best friend asked him about it. And that really ticked her off.

If there was one thing that Hailey was not, it was a cheater. She hated cheaters, and swore off ever doing anything like that to anyone, even if she wasn't really 'dating' them.

"I'm sorry Hailey…" Aaron stated shrugging his shoulders. "But Kira was right there and I'm tired of her harassing me and…"

"Stop," She held up her hand tired of being Aaron's answer to Kira. "I'm sick of this…" She shook her head solemnly. "Every time something is up with Kira you use me as your excuse. I'm not doing it anymore Aaron… it's pointless and now that I'm dating Tyler… I can't have you of all people feeding people these lies about us…" She pointed out.

"So now you're dating him…" Aaron scoffed his voice low.

"I have been dating him, real or fake Aaron. I don't want to come off as some sleazy girl who cheats on her boyfriend…" Hailey stuck her finger in to Aaron's chest.

The blue eyed boy sucked in a deep breath and shook his head trying to even his temper that was winding up as each word was said, "Fine," he huffed. "I'll fix this…"

"You promise me?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"I swear to you…" He added.

"Thank you,"

Without another word she exited the classroom and went to her first period. She got a few stares from some of the girls and a glare from Reid who was still sure that she had cheated on his best friend with hers. She sighed and opened her book. Moments later Aaron sauntered in and took his seat next to her.

Everyone turned around to look at him and he rolled his eyes.

"For everyone's information, Sydney McAllister and Kira Snider are full of shit… ok?" He proclaimed. "Hailey and I aren't dating…" He continued.

The entire room was a buzz as a slow smile crept on to Hailey's face, everyone quieted down as the professor walked in to class. He shot a dirty glare in their direction and the class was still and silent.

After class Hailey leaned over to Aaron, "Thanks…" She whispered.

"My mess, I have to clean it up…" He stated with a lazy shrug.

"You know I appreciate it…" She smiled before getting up and meeting Tyler at the bottom of the steps.

Aaron watched his blue eyes never leaving the 'couple', things were getting too deep, he could feel it. He had to talk to Hailey about this as soon as possible; he had to make her listen to him. Maybe he did need to scrap this whole bet ordeal.

Things were getting way too weird between them and he didn't like it, not one bit.

* * *

**Please remember to R&R!**


	13. You're On

**Woohoo, things are starting to get interesting... **

**A/N: So I'm an avid CSI: fan, only care for the original damnit... and guess who is the new CSI training with Sara? JESSICA LUCAS, she plays Ronnie Lake... Woohoo... thought that was cool to see another Covenant member on regular TV.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 13 – **_**You're On**_

The next week went by slowly, but for Hailey she enjoyed almost every minute of it. Every minute that didn't consist of Aaron bitching in her ear about her sudden change of attitude.

Her relationship with Tyler and his friends had grown; Hailey and Reid were even on speaking terms. This was a huge feat for both of them.

Unfortunately for her, her relationship with Aaron was beginning to deteriorate… and that wasn't a good thing for any of them. He was starting to drop hints that if she didn't stop hanging out with them that he would let Tyler in on their bet.

She promised him, against her better judgment that she wasn't in too deep and that they were almost done with their bet. But she knew deep down that she wasn't hanging on to the bet itself, but what had come of it.

She was hanging on to her relationship with Tyler and her new friends that she had made through him. She was happy to be able to be the person she really was when she was around them and not the girl that she was when she was with Aaron.

It was the following Wednesday and the girls had swept Hailey away for an afternoon of skipping class and going shopping in town. The guys were headed to swim practice, not noticing that Aaron was trailing behind them, listening to their conversation.

"So Baby boy, how are things with Hailey?" Caleb asked with a small grin forming on his lips.

"Things are good…" The blue eyed brunette reported holding back the sly grin that was threatening to give him away.

"Great is more like it… he doesn't shut up about her…" Reid informed slinging an arm around his friend's shoulders. "I can't say that I blame the man, she's a freak in the sheets…" Reid smirked, getting a smack upside the head from his best friend.

"I'd like to forget the fact that you slept with my girlfriend, ok?" Tyler stated shooting his best friend a look.

"He won't let you forget it…" Pogue stated knocking his shoulder in to the younger boys.

"So I heard from Sarah, that you're taking her out for a special dinner this weekend?" Caleb asked fiddling with the bag draped over his shoulder.

"Yep," Tyler smiled and tried to hide back the gleam in his eyes.

"What's so special about it?" Reid questioned confused.

"From what I've heard Tyler is going to tell her something?" Caleb asked raising an eyebrow.

"That is the last time I go to your girlfriend for suggestions…" Tyler stated dramatically.

"C'mon baby boy, don't leave us hanging!" Pogue stated gallantly.

"I'm going to tell Hailey…" Tyler mumbled something and the three other guys stopped and looked at him.

"What did you say?" Reid questioned his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"I said I'm going to tell her that I love her…" Tyler stated shrugging his shoulders as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Love?" Reid nearly choked on his own saliva.

Aaron tripped over his own two feet at the sound of this. Did Tyler just say that he was going to tell Hailey, HIS Hailey that he was in love with her? This couldn't be happening, could it?

_Wait_, Aaron stopped himself; _this is what you want… you want him to fall in love with her, now she can break up with him._

A vindictive smile spread across his face at the thought. Hailey was just playing them all, he was sure of it. She would become the girl she was before and rip the youngest member of the Ipswich brood's heart out. Then she would return to him and be his girlfriend.

He was sure of it. Hailey Gregory would be his.

"So why are we shopping?" Hailey asked looking from the blonde on her right to the brunette on her left.

Both girls had their arms linked with hers as they entered their third store. They were unable to find anything 'suitable' as they put it in the first two. But neither of them would spill the beans as to way they had taken her shopping instead of being in class.

"We can't tell you it's a surprise…" Kate stated looking through a rack of nice dresses.

"Oh c'mon… I thought we were friends…" She stated glancing at the dark haired girl opposite her.

"We are friends, and that's why we're here taking you shopping for Friday…" Sarah blurted out. She covered her mouth with her hands, her blue eyes large as saucers as Kate snickered.

"I swear, you can't keep your mouth shut to save a life…" Kate muttered shaking her head.

"What's so great about Friday?" The green-eyed girl questioned as she looked through a rack of clothes herself.

"Tyler has a surprise for you," Kate stated putting her hands on the younger girl's shoulders.

"Oh really?" Her eyes became bright at the sound of a surprise. She had no idea what it could possibly be. "What is it?" She asked looking to Sarah waiting for the girl to blurt out another part of the surprise.

"I can't…." She shook her head looking at Kate. "Tyler would butcher me…" She stated giving an innocent smile.

"You guys are no fair…" She pouted as the blonde sauntered up next to her, toying with the bottom of her skirt.

"But you _love_ us…" Sara stated emphasizing the word love as she literally skipped off to another rack of clothes.

"Sarah Nicole Wenham…" Kate scolded her silently as she walked over to her.

Hailey's eyebrow arched in question as she thought about what Sara said, and then tied it together with the surprise on Friday, and why they were looking for something 'suitable' for her to wear. Her eyes grew wide with her new realization. Tyler was taking her out on Friday to tell her something, something important.

He was going to tell her he loved her.

She felt a wave of emotion wash over her, her eyes stung. She pushed away the tears that were threatening and caught up with her two new friends. They shopped around a bit and finally settled on the perfect dress for her to wear out with Tyler.

The girls returned to the dorms and Hailey found Aaron leaning against her door, his hands stuffed in to his pockets and a scowl adorning his face. Her brow knitted together as she pulled out her keys.

"Not waiting inside for me?" She asked skeptically as he kicked off of the piece of oak and watched her fiddle with the lock.

"Figured I would give you some privacy…" Aaron lifted his shoulder carelessly.

"Since when?" She scoffed using her weight to shoulder open the door.

"Since… now…" He followed her in to her room, Hailey closed the door behind him, crossing her arm under her breasts as she glanced over at the curly haired boy.

"What's the deal, Aaron?" She asked.

"Nothing," Aaron stated casually his eyes scanning over her room. "I just think that maybe we should raise the stakes…" He picked up a koosh ball that was sitting next to her lap top.

"Raise the stakes of what?" Hailey asked narrowing her eyes at the blue eyed boy.

"The bet…" Aaron coughed his eyes meeting hers for a brief moment. Hailey felt her heartbeat quicken, why would he want to do something like that? She could tell he wanted to end the bet just as much as she did.

"Why?" She asked raising an eyebrow at the brunette.

"Make things a little more interesting…" He stated coming closer to her, his eyes set on her.

"No way," She shook her head not breaking his steady gaze.

"Why not, are you afraid of something?" He questioned.

"Of course not," She fumbled for the right words to say, something that would get Aaron off of her back. "Don't you think we're going to be doing enough damage already?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"Are we?" Aaron asked raising an eyebrow as he brushed by her, standing behind her and letting himself linger too close for comfort. "I think you're in too deep already… so might as well explore while we're at it…" He stated his nose turned up at the thought.

He had to make sure that the Sons of Ipswich got what they deserved and that he would get Hailey back in the end. Whether she liked it or not, she was going to be his after all is said and done. He was sure of it.

She sighed and her eyes bore in to his knowing that he wouldn't give in easily, what would she have to do to keep his mouth shut? When it came to being betrayed, Aaron Abbott could open his mouth ten times worse then Sydney McAllister and Kira Snider combined.

"What do you have in mind, Aaron?" She asked sitting down on her bed defeated, still holding the bag of new garments in her clutches.

"I want some dirt…" Aaron stated a snide look crossing his normal handsome features.

"Dirt on what?" She knitted her eyebrows together in confusion.

"On the Sons…all of them, something that I can use…" Aaron stated lifting his shoulder in suggestion.

"Are you crazy?" She asked her eyes wide with shock. "Aaron, you want me to invade in more of their personal business... that's just not right…"

"Oh c'mon Hailey… it's not like you actually like these people…" Aaron accused his voice raising slightly as he watched her carefully.

She shrugged a slender shoulder and looked up at him, "They're not bad people Aaron…" She stated shaking her head. "I really don't even know why you don't like them… they're very likable…" She stated pursing her pink lips together in confusion.

"Because they pompous asses… that's why…" Aaron seethed. "You have to do this for me…" Aaron stated.

"Why?" Hailey asked standing up for herself.

"Aren't you supposed to be my best friend, Hailey?" Aaron asked her.

"Best friends wouldn't do this to each other…" She stated getting a bit angry with him now. "If you really cared about me the way you say you do Aaron, you wouldn't have made me do any of this…" She reiterated.

"You did this to yourself Hailey…" He mused. "You wanted to raise the stakes in the game… guess what… now it's my turn…" He stated getting up and leaving her room, slamming the door behind him.

Hailey's stomach did flips, she and Aaron rarely fought, they usually saw eye-to-eye on most things. But she didn't feel right; she didn't want to spy on the Sons of Ipswich. Not her new friends. What could they have to hide though?

_Nothing_, Hailey decided. _You should just tell Aaron you'll do it to keep him happy._ She grabbed the koosh ball and began to squeeze it, _keep Aaron happy and keep your secret from Tyler a little longer._

She groaned falling back on to her bed and staring at the ceiling; _maybe you should just tell Tyler the truth…_ She sighed. Her eyes flickered with a bit of apprehension. Just tell him the truth, it started out with some stupid bet with Aaron, and once she started dating him, getting to know him… she fell for him.

_Fell for him?_ She questioned herself. _Yes, you fell for him hard Hailey._ She answered herself. There was no denying it. Knowing that Tyler was going to tell her how he felt on Friday, made her stomach churn with repugnant.

The same questions continued to flood her thoughts, she sighed, and she grabbed her cell phone and dialed Aaron number. His cocky, arrogant voice filled her ears as he greeted her.

"I knew you'd see things my way…" He stated simply.

"But _if_ we don't find anything out we stop this…" She muttered.

"You're on, love…"

* * *

**You know me, had to throw in a small curve ball here... lala... so press the cute little blue button down yonder and REVIEW... cause I'm an egotistical maniac and I need a good ego boost... **

**No seriously, I'm not kidding... ok... maybe I am... ;)  
**


	14. Friday Night

_**Wow, I haven't updated in what feels like forever. I've been a bit ambushed between work, my husband, my daughter... and other things... lol. But here's another chapter, just for you guys! **_

* * *

_**Chapter 14 – Friday Night**_

Tonight was the night. Hailey paced her dorm room, feeling like she was making a deal with the devil. She couldn't deny her feelings for Tyler that was for sure, but how could she let him tell her how he felt, knowing that Aaron was behind all of this.

It was his fault. It was his fault that she was in this mess, but it was partially her own. She should have never accepted the bet. But, if she hadn't accepted the bet she would have never gotten close to Tyler, or the girls.

If it wasn't for this stupid bet, she wouldn't have two great girlfriends and a great boyfriend. She wouldn't have any of it. She would just have Aaron. Aaron and his friends.

She shuddered at the thought; he had been on her the last two days, badgering her about their new stipulation to the bet. She shook her head; she was up to her neck in bull. And she didn't have a way out.

Option one; she could tell Aaron to take his bet and shove it, have Aaron come out and tell everyone about their bet, and Tyler will hate her and never want to talk to her again.

Option two; she could tell Tyler about the bet, hope to god that he forgives her or understands why she agreed to do something so terrible, and she would probably end up losing Aaron as a friend.

Option three; she could again tell Tyler, and he would absolutely hater her and never want to see her again.

Two many of her options resulted in Tyler's ultimate rejection, and she wasn't sure if she could handle that. She had gotten too close, she cared about him too much to let that happen between them. She would string Aaron along, string him along until she had something to use against him to keep his mouth shut.

_That's it_, she thought. She would just have to find out something that Aaron wouldn't want anyone to know… no one at all, and use it against him.

Could you stoop down to his level? Could she blackmail her own best friend in to keeping his mouth shut? Was it possible to keep Aaron Abbott's mouth shut?

She was brought out of her thoughts by a knock on the door. Her heart skipped a literal beat when she turned to look at the large oak door. For some reason, she pushed all of the thoughts out of her brain, as if Tyler could read her mind.

She straightened out the dress she was donning and opened the door, forcing a smile on to her lips. The brunette turned slightly to look at her, a lopsided grin on his lips as he held out a bouquet of wild flowers.

"They're beautiful…" She whispered taking them from him. He grinned as he took in her dress; it was an intricately made black lace dress with a scoop neck. She matched it with a pair of black pumps and a small gold bag.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you," He retorted without much thought.

She blushed slightly and waved him in to the room, "Let me put these in some water…"

Tyler closed the door behind him and he looked around her room, it was neat and tidy. Everything was set up where she could see it, he watched her walk over to one of the built in shelves and retrieve a simple glass vase.

She flashed him a smile as she walked in to the half bath and filled the vase with water and then placed the flowers on the desk next to her computer and a picture of her and Tyler together that was only taken a few days ago.

"You ready?" He questioned adjusting the tie that was around his neck.

"I am…" She nodded with a small smile as he held out his hand for her to take. "So are we taking my car, or did Reid let you keep yours for our date?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, starting with the sarcasm already?" Tyler asked with a low laugh. He retrieved his hand from his pocket and gave her a small smile. "I got permission to take my car out tonight…" He stated sending her a short wink.

"Talk about sarcasm…" She laughed placing a kiss on his cheek.

"So, do you want to know where we're going?" He asked her.

"I do," She said, and just as he was about to open his mouth she put a finger against his soft lips, "But, I can wait… I like surprises…" She grinned at him.

"Suit yourself," He grinned holding the door open for her as they walked out in to the crisp air of the fall.

He opened the door to the liquid black Hummer for her and trotted around to the other side to get in himself. Her green eyes took in his outfit he had settled for a charcoal colored pin-striped suit, white crisp shirt and navy blue tie. His hair was slightly wet still from his shower and was slicked back, but was slowly falling out of place.

"You look really, really good…" She stated her eyes lingering over him slowly.

"I clean up pretty good, huh?" Tyler asked with a cocky grin on his lips.

"Alright, Reid…" She rolled her eyes at his comment.

Tyler laughed and took off in to town, the two chatted about everything on the way in to town. School, the guys, the girls, swim practice, and anything else that came to mind. Just as Tyler was parking the car, Hailey found herself looking around to find out where they had come.

"Bailey's?" She asked looking at the green neon sign hanging about the restaurant. "Tyler…" She stated as he helped her out of the car.

"Only the best for my girl," He commented.

"You have gone above and beyond for this one…" She stated shaking her head, the soft curls falling around her face.

"You haven't seen anything yet…" He grinned at her leading her in to the restaurant.

"Mr. Simms, it's good to see you…" The hostess smiled at him.

"Holly," Tyler nodded to the girl.

"They're just finishing up your table now; it should only be a few more moments…" The girl beamed.

Tyler nodded his head and pulled Hailey to the bar, he waived the bar tender over and waited for the large guy to ask them for their order.

"What do you want?" Tyler asked glancing at her.

"Um, Martini… dry…" She stated surveying his face slightly as he nodded.

"I'll take a Crown and Coke, and a Martini dry for the lady…" Tyler smiled wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.

"Comin' right up Mr. Simms…" The bartender nodded.

"How in the world…" Hailey's question trailed off as Tyler took a seat and offered her the one in front of him.

"My family owns the restaurant…" He lifted a shoulder in disinterest.

"They do?" She asked her eyes wide.

"Yeah, my grandfather had it built for my grandmother…" He smiled at her. "To show her how much he loved her… right before he asked her to marry him…" Hailey's smile grew. "My father brought my mother here the night he asked her to marry him…"

Hailey's smile faded and looked at him straight-faced, Tyler Simms was not about to propose to her, was he? _You're crazy, you're only seventeen…._ She thought to herself. _Get a grip Hailey._

"So why the name Bailey's?" She asked trying to shift the conversation away from matrimony and vows.

"My grandmother's maiden name…" Tyler pointed out as the bartender placed the two drinks in front of them.

"This place is fantastic…" She stated looking over everything that was around them. The inside of the building had an earthy feel to it. There was a running stream down the middle, lots of trees, flowers and greenery. It was simply breathtaking.

"My grandmother was a big nature buff…" Tyler said softly as he sipped his Crown and coke.

"That's why your grandfather had it built this way?" She questioned.

"Exactly," Tyler nodded his head.

"Well, what's the special occasion tonight?" She asked intrigued and ready to find out from his lips.

"You'll just have to wait and see," He grinned.

"Mr. Simms…" The hostess' voice caught their attention. "Your table is ready…" She smiled brightly at him.

"Thanks Holly," He nodded and he led her towards the special table.

Tyler led her to the front of the restaurant; there was a lavish set up, right at the mouth of the indoor creek. The sound of the water hitting the rocks was soothing; the greenery around them really set the mood. He pulled out the dark chivalry chair and took a seat right across from her. The table was set up with two candles and a small flower arrangement in the middle.

"Wow… Tyler…" She was speechless really. "This is…" She shook her head. "Incredible…"

"Only the best…" He smiled shortly at her and pulled the napkin out of his wine glass. "So you like it?" He asked with a large grin on his face.

"Like it?" She asked shaking her head. "I love it…" She whispered following his lead.

"Good," He couldn't wipe the smile off of his face; the waiter came by to make sure they were ok, they both indicated they had already gotten drinks, and gave them a few minutes to order.

"So what's good here?" She questioned.

"I'm not being biased when I say this…." Tyler warned. "But everything is pretty good. I really like the Filet Mignon though…" He pointed out.

"That does sound rather good," She nodded her head in agreement. Her eyes surveyed over the menu and she scrunched her nose up in confusion, he was right, everything looked pretty good. She wasn't sure what she should order.

"Are you ready to order?" The waiter came back dressed head to toe in black.

"Are you ready, Hailey?" Tyler asked softly.

"I think so," She nodded looking up at the waiter. "I'll have the Filet Mignon, with steamed vegetables." She reported.

"That sounds good; I'll have the same…" Tyler announced handing the waiter his menu.

The waiter nodded his head and hurried out of sight as Tyler reach across the table and took her hand in his. His thumb slowly caressed the soft skin, grazing over her knuckles; Hailey felt her entire body shiver at his touch.

It was soft, comforting and passionate, all at the same time. Those pools of blue stared at her, she didn't have to se thee smile painted on his lips; she saw it in his eyes. She could feel her heartbeat quicken, her blood began to boil, and her legs shook terribly.

The fluttering in her stomach wouldn't subside, the flush on her cheeks was evident, and Tyler could see her visibly shaking. He was making her either very nervous, or she knew something was going on. She probably caught on to what was going on at the bar.

He took her here for a reason, his family's 'special occasion' dinners were all held under Bailey's roof. He didn't know how much longer he could wait; he wanted to say it as soon as she opened the door tonight.

"Hailey," Tyler cleared his throat. His voice was cracking slightly, his palms slowly beginning to sweat, his face flushing to match Hailey's mauve tint. He was nervous, it was written all over his face, and his confidence flew right out the window. _Get it together Simms,_ he scolded himself, _it's now or never._ "I want to tell you something…" He started.

"Ok," She nodded looking Tyler over carefully. "What's wrong Tyler?" She asked.

"Nothing," He shook his head. "Nothing's wrong at all…" he stated shortly. "In fact, everything is perfect…" He told her.

She could feel the butterflies quickening in her stomach, she couldn't breath, and it was now… he was going to tell her now. She could feel it in her bones, she could sense it. What was she going to do, how did she feel? Did she love Tyler Simms?

_Yes_, her subconscious answered quickly. She wasn't sure if her face showed her confusion at the sudden self-answer, she sure as hell hoped not. Did she really love him? _Yes_, rang back to her instantly.

"Hailey," Tyler's eyebrows slammed together in worry. "Are you alright?" He asked tightening his grip on her hand.

Hailey looked up at him, "No… I mean yes…" She shook her head. "I'm fine… sorry…" She whispered cursing herself mentally for zoning out like that.

"Well, what I wanted to tell you is…" Tyler paused for another second; Hailey felt as though she had just swallowed her heart, she could barely breathe. "Hailey, I love you…"

The way he said those three little words was almost like music to her ears. She had never had a boyfriend that said it to her the way that he did. It seemed so natural rolling off of his tongue and in to her ears.

"I love you too…" She responded. She didn't have to think about it anymore. As soon as the words escaped his mouth she knew in the bottom of her heart, that she was falling in love with this man, if she hadn't already.

Tyler's expression said it all, he was not expecting her to say it back so quickly. He was pleased, beyond belief, a wave of relief had washed over him the minute she had said the words. He leaned forward grabbing her close to him as he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"I can't believe you planned all of this," She whispered.

"Well it's the first time that I've ever said I love you to anyone who isn't family…" Tyler stated softly. "So it was kind of a big deal… and I felt like it was something that I should do…"

"God, Tyler…" Hailey sucked in a breath. "You are so incredible…" She shook her head. "I can't even find the words to describe you right now…" She took a sip of her drink to calm her nerves. "Incredible doesn't even work… nothing does…"

Tyler blushed, he didn't really know how to respond to that, but was flattered. Not soon after the silence between them settled the food arrived. They chatted over the food, naturally, both of them in their own elements, and completely on cloud nine.

After finishing off three drinks a piece and their food the couple was ready to leave. Tyler grabbed his keys out and Hailey looked at him, she was a bit tipsy and wondered if Tyler was ok to drive or not.

"Are you going to be ok driving that huge heap of metal?" She asked eyeing the black Hummer.

"I'm not nearly as gone as you are my dear," Tyler stated shaking his head. "Reid's my best friend; I can handle a little more than three drinks without being toasted…."

"That makes one of us then…" She remarked as Tyler laughed lacing his arm around her middle. "So are we headed back to the dorms then?" She asked.

"I figured that going back to the dorms would really kill the mood…" Tyler stated with a small smirk crossing his lips.

"Oh, what did you have in mind then?" She asked him as he helped her in to the car.

"Why don't you open up the center console…" He stated as he closed the door and walked around to get in the vehicle himself.

Hailey did as he asked and opened the center console just as he was getting in to the driver's side of the car. She pulled out a card. Her neatly trimmed eyebrows came together in confusion as he motioned for her to open the card as he turned the huge utility vehicle on.

Hailey slid her finger under the lip of the envelope opening it carefully. She pulled the card out and it was a simple card that had a heart on the front, she opened it up and two cards fell in to her lap. She pursed her lips together and looked at the card.

In Tyler's neatest handwriting it said simply, 'I love you'. She smiled and picked up the two cards that fell in her lap. She looked at them carefully, scribbled in a neat printed cursive were two words, The Palace.

Hailey's head snapped up as she looked over at Tyler, her mouth hanging open as her eyes narrowed at him, "You're good…" She nodded. "Really good…"

"I do try," He stated with a small smile. "So are you up for it?" He asked her.

"Are you kidding me?" She questioned. "You and me, alone, no roommates, no neighbors that we care for, in a hotel room for a night…" She looked happy, and very content with the idea.

"I thought you might like it…" He smiled.

"How in the world were you able to book a room at the Palace though?" She asked shaking her head. "Don't tell me your family owns it too…" She laughed at her own small joke.

Tyler laughed and shook his head, "Mine don't…" He stated simply turning his eyes back to the road, "Pogue's family does…" He grinned, catching her expression out of the corner of his eye.

Hailey stared at him in shock, "I swear, they're not kidding when they call you guys the Sons of Ipswich…" She shook her head.

Tyler gave her a small wink before turning the large vehicle in to the parking lot for The Palace. He pulled around through the valet parking and the door was opened by the valet boy and she stepped out of the car with his help. Tyler popped the trunk and pulled out a bag that was in the back.

He tossed the keys to the valet and grabbed the piece of paper the slightly younger boy gave him. He grabbed on to Hailey's hand and pulled her inside with him.

"What is in there?" She asked pointing to the bag.

"Sarah and Kate figured they would help me out…" He grinned going straight for the elevators.

She gave him a sideways glance and held on to his arm as they stopped at the top floor, the suite floor. Her eyes lit up as he opened the door to their room, it was lavishly decorated a welcome basket was placed on the front foyer of the room and Tyler smiled seeing her happy expression.

"I figured no one would miss us for the weekend…" He let the bag in his hand fall to the floor.

"You're smooth…" She laughed as he picked her up bridal style. "Real smooth…" She noted.

"I learn from the best…" He tossed her on to the plush bed that was in the middle of the room. "Now," He leaned over her body, a sexy little smirk adorning his handsome face.

"Yes?" She arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow up at him in question, the fluttering in her stomach never stopping.

"I think we need to use our time wisely…" He let his lips linger over hers.

She forced herself upward and her lips touched his, "I completely agree," She grinned.

Tyler gripped her hips with his large hands and pulled her up to meet him in an intense kiss. Hailey wrapped her legs around his waist and forced him down a bit, he obliged by leaning down his knees slightly bent and pressed against the frame of the bed. Hailey's fingers hurriedly untucked Tyler's shirt and started unbuttoning.

The shrilling sound of her phone ruined their moment of intimacy; the ring tone indicating that it was the last person she wanted to talk to at the moment. Tyler grabbed the small piece of technology from her hand bag and rolled his blue eyes at the name blinking on the screen. He held the 'end' button down until the phone shut off.

"No interruptions…" He stated simply tossing the phone over his shoulder and recapturing her lips with his.

* * *

**You know, I've been getting a lot of Tyler vibes since I've been watching Gossip Girl (strictly for my fix of Chace...). I think he needs another story... lol... ;)**

* * *


	15. In Trusting Reid

_After a long hiatus, which I apologize for, writer's block is a bitch. But here's the next chapter of Not the Way We Planned It._

* * *

**Chapter 15 – In Trusting Reid**

After what seemed like the most amazing weekend ever, Hailey wasn't quite sure that she wanted to return to the dorm, or to school for that matter. It was one of her best experiences yet. She felt like an adult being pampered by the staff at the Palace, and by her boyfriend.

She didn't have to worry about impressing anyone, or putting up with Aaron and his banter.

She woke up in Tyler's arms Monday morning and fought the urge to go back to sleep, she knew his friends would ask questions, and her friends would ask questions. She could already hear them now.

"What time is it?" The mumbled sound of Tyler's voice brought her out of her daze.

"Six thirty…" She murmured one eye open.

"I guess we should get up and get going, huh?" She felt his body move against hers.

"Mmm, I guess so…" She maneuvered in his arms, facing him as her lips met his softly.

Tyler ran his soft hands over her arms and she pulled him closer to her naked body. She felt the shivers run down her spine, those pink lips feathering lightly over her skin. The sensation was light and amazing.

"We should really get going…" She whispered against the want that was pounding in her body.

"Yeah," He nodded his head letting his lips linger on hers for a minute.

She grabbed her bag and pulled out her uniform that had been graciously packed, someone was really thinking ahead. She mused to herself as she primped herself in the mirror and came out of the bathroom to see Tyler ready to leave. He grabbed her things and walked her out to the Black Hummer that waited patiently for them in the parking lot.

"People are going to ask questions…" She mused as Tyler parked the car in the Spencer parking lot.

"Let'em…" He answered with a lazy shrug, giving her a genuine smile.

"Have I told you how great you are, today?" She asked taking his outstretched hand.

"Mmm, not this morning…" He shook his head.

"Well that's because you're better than great…" She grinned.

"You're making me sick…" Caleb's voice howled from behind them.

"Go to hell Danvers," Tyler laughed slightly giving his best friend a friendly handshake.

"Enjoy your weekend?" Caleb asked flashing a brilliant smile.

"A little too much…by the looks of it…" Pogue came up behind them dialing in to his locker.

"Oh please…" Tyler rolled his blue eyes. "Cut the melodrama…"

"Our little boy is all grown up…" Caleb sighed heavily in a mocking voice.

"I'm so proud of him…" Pogue added putting a hand to his chest.

"A man after my own heart…" A female voice cooed from behind.

The gang turned around to see Sarah and Kate smiling brightly behind them. They linked arms with Hailey and dragged her to the side trying to get as many details as they possibly could out of the young girl.

Hailey was as modest as she possibly could be, trying not to brag about how great Tyler was at everything, and she did mean everything. Their small congregation was broken up by two sour attitudes that of her best friend and that of her boyfriend's best friend.

The two came down the hall argue and shoving each other.

"Get it through your thick skull Abbott, Hailey doesn't want you ok?" Reid shoved the boy hard in to a set of lockers.

"What the hell?" Hailey started towards the two boys.

"Wake up and smell the coffee Garwin, she doesn't want you either…" Aaron argued trying to shove the other boy off of him.

"That's right because she's in to my best friend, you jackass…" Reid stated holding Aaron up by the collar of his shirt.

"Reid, chill out…" Hailey stated pushing the two apart. "Let him go…"

"Hails…" Aaron started to argue.

"Shut up Aaron…" She held her hand up. "You're not making the situation any better…"

"Reid man, c'mon…" Tyler grabbed his best friend by the arm and pulled him away from Hailey and her best friend.

"What the hell is going on Hailey?" Aaron hissed shooting daggers at the Sons of Ipswich. "You ignored my call Friday night and then turn your phone off?" He asked a bit pissed off at her.

"I was busy," Hailey stated tossing a glance back at Tyler, Pogue and Caleb who were trying to calm Reid down.

"Doing what?" Aaron pushed.

"Let's not talk about it here ok… what is going on with you and Reid?" She asked him.

"He overheard me talking to Brody and Ryan…." Aaron shrugged.

"Aaron what did you say to Brody and Ryan?" Hailey questioned in a worried tone.

"Nothing out of the normal, just that you were MY best friend and that asswipe stole you from me…" Aaron shrugged. "Garwin overheard and got offended."

"Just cool it with the name calling, ok? He is my boyfriend…"

"Whatever, Hailey this is stupid…really stupid…" Aaron stated in a low voice.

"We'll talk about it later, ok?" Hailey asked.

"Whatever Hails, I see where your loyalties lie…" Aaron mumbled before walking away.

Hailey took a deep breath and turned around to see Reid and Tyler the only two left of their core group. She walked over and gave a small smile to Reid.

"Sorry about Aaron, I really don't know what's gotten in to him lately…" Hailey apologized.

"It's all good Hails…" Reid smirked at her. "Now love birds, lets get to class shall we?" He asked draping his arm around Tyler's shoulders and the other around Hailey's shoulders.

Hailey raised an eyebrow, what had changed Reid's tune? Why was he suddenly sticking up for their relationship, and being civil to her? She didn't know if he had talked to Tyler about everything, or if he was just finally coming to terms with the fact that she and Tyler were together and he couldn't do anything about it.

Hailey tried her hardest to keep Aaron and Reid away from each other most of the day, with great success. She knew she had to talk to Aaron eventually about what was going on, but she couldn't do it in front of any of the Sons of Ipswich or their girlfriends.

Too many questions would arise about the two. She knew it.

Aaron walked towards his locker when a firm grip tore him out of his brooding thoughts. He glanced at the small hand that was clutching on to his forearm; it was connected to a young girl. The same young girl that had been in his thoughts the entire weekend.

"So are you going to tell me what the hell is going on, Hails?" Aaron questioned with an eyebrow arched up at her.

"Not now, but I do need to talk to you…" She stated with a heavy sigh, taking a glance in every which direction. "Come to my dorm later tonight and I'll explain, ok?" She stated.

"Ok, I'll be there…" Aaron stated noticing a particular Son of Ipswich was looking their way in interest. "Care to tell me what's on your mind?" He asked her, moving in a bit closer just to piss off the younger boy.

"I'll explain tonight, ok… I've got to go…" She stated glancing at the same Son of Ipswich with a small smile on her lips.

"Sure…" Aaron responded, his tone defeated.

He watched as Hailey walked over to Tyler, the Son that was waiting ever so patiently for her. Aaron's eyes bore in to them as Tyler interlaced his fingers with her and the couple walked off to their next class together.

A low guttural growl escaped him, never in his life had he wanted to be someone more than he wanted to be Tyler Simms. Sure he envied Caleb and Reid, one was smart and responsible, the other rebellious and relentless, but neither of them had the one thing he wanted most.

_Hailey Gregory_.

"What was that about?" Tyler asked taking her books from her.

"I just need to talk to him later; he's been acting really strange lately…" Hailey answered with a small smile, it was half true. He had been acting rather strange the last few days and she wanted to get down to the bottom of it and find out why.

"I'm telling you it's because he likes you." Tyler shook his head and took his girlfriend's hand in his again.

"Don't be absurd," Hailey shook her head. "Aaron does not see me like that…"

"Why is it that everyone sees it but you?" Her blue-eyed boyfriend questioned.

"Because everyone else is dense; Aaron is one of my good friends, and that's where the relationship stops. Besides, it doesn't matter anyway" She smiled wrapping her free arm around his a small smile creeping on to her face. "I have you…" She stated gibing him a quick kiss on the lips.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by with ease; Aaron didn't question her anymore until he got up to her dorm that afternoon. His knocking was rapid and caught Hailey off guard. She was undressing out of her uniform when he came by.

She pulled on the grey Spencer hoodie that belonged to her boyfriend and the blue basketball shorts that hung loosely around her hips. She answered the door and Aaron was leaning against the door frame giving her a wicked grin.

"Hey Aaron," She moved so he could come in.

"So you wanted to talk, let's talk…" Aaron stated falling on to her bed.

"Alright, I really don't know how to tell you this…" She drawled out rubbing her hands up and down her arms, as if she was fighting off goose bumps.

"Well spit it out, babe…" Aaron grinned.

"I can't do this bet anymore, Aaron…"

"Well then, I win… and you can rid yourself of that jerk…" Aaron grinned happily.

"No," She shook her head. "Aaron, I can't finish this bet because I'm in love with Tyler…"

"Love?" Aaron scoffed looking at her shaking his head furiously. "You were supposed to make _him_ fall in love with _you_, Hailey, not the other way around!" His teeth clenched together angrily as he stood up from the bed.

"I didn't exactly expect to fall in love with him, Aaron…" She pressed.

"I'm sorry too, because I'm not going to sit here and take this bullshit…" Aaron growled his jaw set.

"Aaron, please don't do anything stupid… I really, really care about Tyler… I can't hurt him like this…"

"You don't have to, I'll do it for you…" Aaron grinned evilly, almost menacingly.

"Aaron, please… don't tell him about the bet… I would die…" She held a hand to her chest as Aaron fled to the door.

"I gave you everything, Hailey…" Her eyes rimmed with tears. "I picked up the pieces when Reid Garwin broke your heart the first time… I did…" Aaron yelled at her.

"Aaron, I told you… I don't see you like that…" She whispered sadly.

"That's right because you're in love with Tyler fucking Simms!" He grabbed on to her upper arms tightly looking her dead in the eye.

"Aaron, you're hurting me," She felt the tears falling from her eyes.

"Well, you hurt me the moment you chose those imbeciles over me…" He growled letting her go and throwing the door open and storming out of her room.

Just as Aaron left her view, Reid appeared just as quickly, his usually light-blue eyes were dark and narrowing in on her. A look of anger pained his usually handsome features.

_He didn't hear all of that, did he? _She asked herself, seeing the way the boy was standing, the look on his face, he heard just about everything.

"Reid, I can explain…" She started but he cut her off before she could say anything further.

"What the hell was that about?" Reid's voice rose, and attracted a few onlookers from the dormitory hallway.

"Could you keep your voice down?" The brunette girl asked harshly looking around to see who was in the hallway.

"Keep my voice down?" The blonde asked glaring at her.

"I'll explain everything if you come inside," She chewed on her bottom lip.

"No, you tell me now." Reid demanded stepping in to the doorway.

"We made a bet…" Hailey whispered, her gaze shifted to her feet. "Aaron and I made this bet the night I first started talking to Tyler at Nicky's…" She started to explain. "It was stupid really; I told him that we should up the stakes in our game of pool… make things a little more interesting," She paused looking back up at him, he took a step in to the room. "I told him if I won he had to be at my beck and call for a month, and he came up with this ingenious idea that I had to make one of you fall for me…"

"I knew it; I knew there was something else behind all of this…" The boy shouted. Hailey hurriedly closed the door behind him, trying not to have any attention drawn to them.

"Reid you have to promise me you wont' say anything to Tyler…" Hailey pleaded with him, her green eyes shedding tears.

"You want me to keep a secret for you?' Reid scoffed. "Hailey this is my best friend we're talking about here…" Reid stated shaking his head furiously.

"I mad the bet with Aaron before I really knew Tyler, before I fell for him…" Her tears escaped faster at the thought of losing the blue-eyed boy to this stupid bet.

Reid stood back against the door and stared at her long and hard, he ran a gloved-hand through his blonde hair. He had finally come to terms with Hailey and Tyler together, only to find out about this. Oh, how the tides had changed.

"I really love him, Reid." She whispered softly.

Reid let out a heavy sigh, "How do you expect me to keep this from my best friend, Hailey?"

"Reid, I know you and I don't get along usually… and we don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but I'm begging you…." She stated looking him dead in the eye.

Reid felt a small lump form in his throat; he didn't want to have to tell his best friend that his relationship with Hailey was a lie. And Reid believed what Hailey was saying about not knowing Tyler before, and that she really loved him. He could read it all over her face.

"I'm not doing this for you, ok?" Reid stated letting out a heavy sigh. "Tyler is my best friend, my brother and I don't want to see him hurt…"

"I understand," She whispered. "I'm grateful for this Reid… I've never felt like this about anyone before…" She wringed her hands nervously.

Reid gave he a skeptical look, she was pretty head-over-heels for him last year, "Oh really?"

"Not even you," She stated giving him a glare.

"Could've fooled me…" He gave her his trademark smirk.

"You're a pain in the ass…" She muttered as he opened the door.

"I'm just fuckin' around with you," He grinned shortly as she gave him a small smile.

"Thank you, Reid…" She stated wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "I really appreciate it…"

"Don't mention it…" He shrugged his shoulders. "But don't you dare hurt him, you got me?" He warned.

"I don't plan on it…" She whispered as he disappeared down the hall. "Reid Garwin, if I had things my way none of this would have ever happened…" She said sadly before closing the door to her room.

How had she gotten herself in to this mess? Why would Aaron get so angry with her over this stupid bet? Why had she told Reid the trust? Could she really trust Reid not to say anything? Would he tell Tyler?

What was she going to do if Tyler ever found out the truth?

* * *

Should I continue with the reverse psychology? DON'T PUSH THE BLUE BUTTON, DON'T REVIEW... ;) 


	16. Hell Hath No Fury

**Thanks for all the great reviews! I'm glad even after my long hiatus I still have my faithful readers! Hope everyone had a great New Year:)**

** A/N: Just a fair warning we're going to have an OOC Reid Garwin, but I thought every guy has to have his moment... right? **

* * *

**Chapter 16 – Hell Hath No Fury**

The next week went by; Hailey had been literally shunned from her group of friends. Aaron must have said something awful to get Ryan and Brody both not to talk to her.

And to top it off Aaron had gone in to creepy mode with her.

Every time she turned around he was there. Everywhere she looked, he was staring back at her. He was starting to get on the verge of stalker.

Even Tyler had commented about it, and even asked her what was going on. She made up a lie about a huge fight, which technically wasn't a lie, but what they fought about was.

Aaron was seen hanging out with Kira, and rumors began to spread about Aaron and Hailey together, and he was just causing a lot of trouble for her. More trouble than she was hoping for.

However, she had an incredibly understanding boyfriend. He was putting up with more bull than anyone else in their group was. There were even rumors about Reid and Hailey going around, apparently someone had seen him leaving her room right after Aaron left, but both Reid and Hailey denied it.

The following Wednesday was when things started to get ugly, and fast.

Hailey had left study hall early so she could get her things for her next class. She pulled her books out of her locker and turned around to go to class when she came face to face with Aaron Abbott.

"Aaron," She gasped dropping her books at her feet.

"Hailey," He said back softly, he brushed her hair out of his face with his free hand.

"Aaron, please… don't do anything stupid…" She whispered as he closed in on her.

"Like what?" Aaron asked tilting his head to the side.

"I love Tyler; I don't want to hurt him…" Hailey shook her head.

"What about me Hailey?" Aaron asked his face twisting in to a scowl. "What about how I feel?"

"Aaron, I thought you would understand…" Hailey stated as Aaron pushed her up against the lockers.

"Understand?" Aaron asked haughtily. "You tore my heart out Hailey…" Hailey swallowed and felt his fingers digging in to her arm.

"What the hell is going on?" Reid's voice could be heard halfway down the hall.

"Mind your own business, Garwin…" Aaron stated gripping Hailey's arm tighter in his grasp.

"You're messing with the wrong girl, Aaron…" Reid stated as he got closer.

"What are you her knight in shining armor; give me a break Reid…" Aaron snorted as he glanced at the blonde. "You tore her heart out, just like she did mine…"

"She's my best friend's girl…" Reid stated calmly. "And I suggest that you let her go, right now…"

"What are you going to do Garwin?" Aaron asked glaring at him.

"Aaron, don't do this…" Hailey stated as Reid got closer. "Please…" She whispered, tears in her eyes. "You're supposed to be my best friend…" She whispered.

"You weren't supposed to fall in love with him Hailey; you were supposed to fall in love with _me_…" Aaron stated pushing her in to the lockers one good time and letting her go.

Hailey gasped as the pain in her head overwhelmed her, "Hailey," Reid's tone was full of concern as Aaron walked away. Reid kneeled down next to her as she slid to the ground, tears filling her eyes.

"What am I gonna do Reid?" She asked the blonde. "What am I gonna do?" She questioned softly resting her forehead against her bent knees.

"C'mon lets get you out of here before anyone sees us and starts anymore rumors…" Reid stated grabbing her books and helping her up. He walked her to the girl's bathroom and went in with her, silently cursing himself for setting them both up for any rumors that might come of this.

"Like this is gonna help?" She muttered through hiccups.

"I'll skip next period, no big deal…" Reid stated as he pulled her in to the handicapped bathroom. He grabbed her by the hips and she let out a squeal of surprise as he picked her up and placed her on the edge of the sink. "Be quiet will you?" He asked as she nodded and he grabbed a few paper towels and started to clean up her make up that was running.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked him quietly.

"Look, Hails…" Reid stopped dabbing at her cheeks and looked up at her, "Not many people know this about me," He sighed and shook his head. "I'm the way I am for a reason…" He pointed out. "I had my heart broken," He snorted looking up at the ceiling. "And I swore to God that I would never love again…"

"That's stupid," She muttered.

"Yeah," He sighed nodding his head. "That's why I don't date girls for long periods of time," He bit his bottom lip. "But last year, with you…" He groaned. "God Hailey, you're incredible you know that?" He asked.

Hailey's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "Reid…"

"Just be quiet and listen to me ok?" Reid asked. Hailey closed her mouth and looked at him. "Hailey, I had to dump you…" He shook his head. "I mean, you were perfect…" She was about to say something when Reid gave her a look that pretty much said shut up. "I hadn't actually dated a girl since her, and when I couldn't get you right away, and we actually dated…" He shook his blonde head. "You blew me away…"

"Reid…I…" She started to say.

"Hailey, zip it…" He warned her giving her a steady glare. She clamped her mouth shut and he grinned. "You're beautiful, funny and smart…everything a guy could ask for… I know why Aaron's crazy about you; I know why Tyler's crazy about you… all the same reasons I was crazy about you…"

He took a deep breath, "That's why I was so against you and Tyler at the beginning. I realized that now…"

"If you were so crazy about me, why did you break up with me?" She asked tears in her eyes.

"Hailey, I'm terrified of getting hurt again… ok?" He shook his head. "I ignored you for the rest of the year because I couldn't stand to look at you without hurting, even just a little bit…"

"Reid…"

"Just let me finish…" He shook his head. "I finally came to terms after Tyler told me that he was in love with you. I can't say that I blame him, you're amazing…" He bit his bottom lip. "So I figured, what the hell, I let her go before, and there's no point in trying to get her now, because she's with him…"

The tears fell down Hailey's face again and Reid smiled a little bit wiping them away.

"I finally came to an agreement with myself, that I would let you go again…" Reid looked back up at the ceiling for a minute grasping his feelings. "Because you both were so happy with each other, and then I found out about the bet…" He stated lowering his voice. "My god, it pissed me off…" He shook his head. "But I saw the way you looked at me when you told me that you really fell for him and that you really loved him… and I knew…" He glanced down at the paper towel in his hand.

"You have no idea," Hailey shook her head. "I've wanted to just tell him so many times so Aaron can't use it against me, Reid…but I don't know how…"

"You should just tell him the truth…" Reid shook his head resting his hands on her thighs.

"You're probably right…" Hailey sighed nervously.

"I am…" Reid nodded giving her one of his normal cocky grins.

"Ass…" She muttered shoving his shoulder slightly.

He smiled and helped her off of the sink, "You ok?" He asked.

"As long as Aaron doesn't say anything to Tyler, we'll be all set…"

"We can only hope," Reid stated resting his arm around her shoulder as the two of them exited the bathroom; the bell hadn't rung yet so they were safe to exit the bathroom without rumors starting around them. "Let me walk you to class?" He asked.

"What the hell…" She shrugged.

She glanced over at Reid and couldn't help but smile a little. She understood where he was coming from and was glad he could share himself with her.

"Oh," He turned to look at her. "You tell anyone about that," he pointed to the bathroom. "And I'll roast you… got it?" He asked.

"My lips sealed," She zipped her lips and gave him a wink.

Reid dropped his arm from her shoulders and they walked to their next period together.

Neither of them spoke a word to Tyler or anyone about what transpired in the hallway that day, the rest of the week went by seemingly well, and Aaron went MIA for a few days, which internally worried Hailey.

She still saw him as a close friend, even though they were going through a rough patch.

Tyler was glad to see her and Reid getting along, and he didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable leaving them alone together; they acted as if they were old friends. Reid would sometimes cross the line, and Tyler would put him back in his place.

Caleb and Pogue had taken a liking to her and the girls were enjoying the extra company.

Hailey and Reid had talked about when she should tell Tyler about the _bet_ and she had decided if she had another run in with Aaron she would tell him, if not she would call Aaron's bluff. She didn't think he would do that to her.

At least, that is what she kept telling Reid. Aaron was her friend, but Reid let him know that they say 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' and he grinned at her and replied.

"No one ever pissed off a cocky son of a bitch…"

* * *

**Reverse psychology... don't do it... don't press the blue button... DON'T DO IT... ok did it work? ;)  
**


	17. The Truth

**You would think I didn't work today... geez... these chapters have just been spitting out of me! I'm glad though, because the more I write, the closer to the end we get:)**

**So, this is what everyone has been waiting for... Tyler finally finds out... **

* * *

**Chapter 17 – The Truth**

Things seemed to be going well; it had almost been two weeks since her blow up with Aaron in the hall, and her heart-to-heart with Reid in the bathroom. Her and Tyler were closer than ever, and talk about after Graduation and college were in the mists.

"I think we should move in together," Tyler stated as he looked across the lunch table at his girlfriend.

"You think so?" Hailey asked questioning his decision.

"I mean if you want to, it was just an idea…" Tyler stated as Reid joined them.

"What idea?" The blonde asked taking a seat next to Hailey who bumped shoulders with him casually.

"Me and Hailey moving in together after graduation…" The brunette stated as Caleb, Pogue, Kate and Sarah soon joined them.

"Kate and I were talking about her moving in to my apartment with me…" Pogue nodded.

Sarah looked at Caleb expectantly, "I don't know babe… what about my mom?" Caleb asked.

"She's been a lot better since the whole Chase incident…" Sarah blurted out.

"Chase incident?" Hailey raised her eyebrow.

"Nothing," Caleb stated glancing at Sarah. "Just this fight that happened between me and that transfer, Chase Collins…" Caleb covered.

"Oh," Hailey smiled glancing at them.

"Well, we're all going to BU starting in the fall, and Caleb and Sarah are going to Harvard…" Reid pointed out. "Maybe we should rent a townhouse or a house or something in between, and we could all live together?" He shrugged his shoulders.

Pogue stopped chewing his food and stared at Reid, and Tyler tilted his head in through, "I think that is probably the smartest thing I've ever heard you say…" Caleb commented looking over at Sarah and Kate.

"See I'm not as stupid as you think I am…" Reid grinned cockily.

"That's not a bad idea…" Hailey pointed out.

"We should run it by our parents and see what they say…" Caleb pointed out.

"Always the responsible one…" Pogue laughed as he put his arms around Kate.

They all chatted about getting in to the college's of their choice, with the two 'braniacs' as Reid called them going to Harvard after all. They all parted and went to their next class, and things were seemingly well until after school.

Hailey's class was dismissed early and she found herself running in to Reid on her way to her locker. The two chatted briefly as they came around a corner only to hear an argument breaking out in the middle of the hall way.

"What is your deal Aaron?" Tyler's voice was loud and sounding as though he was on the last straw with the curly haired brunette.

"You, you are my deal Simms…" Aaron pointed at him vigorously.

"You left us alone for nearly a month, and now… now you want to bother us again?" Tyler questioned. "She told me about your fight, and that you haven't talked to her in weeks… so what's changed now?"

"Oh she told you about our fight, huh?" Aaron asked with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, she did…" Tyler stated glaring at him, his eyes narrowed in on the lanky boy before him.

"I bet you she didn't tell you the truth, did she?" Aaron gave him a snide look.

"Of course she did, Hailey wouldn't lie to me…" Tyler insisted.

"That's what you think Simms…" Aaron smirked.

Hailey wanted to jump out and stop Aaron from saying what he was going to say but she couldn't move, she couldn't even let herself speak. She looked up at Reid with terror in her eyes as the blonde got ready to interject between the two, Aaron blurted it out.

"Your entire relationship _is_ a _lie_…" Aaron smirked. "It was all a _bet_…"

"Aaron, no!" Hailey jumped from around the corner, just as Aaron finished telling Tyler. She could feel her heart drop in to her stomach.

"Hailey?" Tyler turned to see Hailey standing there her eyes wide as saucers as Reid came from around the corner. "Bet, what bet is he talking about Hails?"

Aaron smirked at her as he leaned against the lockers, "Go on Hails, tell him about our little bet…"

"Aaron why would you do this?" She asked getting closer to him; the tears falling from her eyes as she felt her insides fluttering wildly. "Why?"

"You did it to me first…" He growled.

"You were supposed to be my friend, my best friend…" She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him.

"Things didn't go the way we planned them, did they Hails?" Aaron growled.

"Hailey what is he talking about?" Tyler asked glancing back at Reid who was trying to keep quiet.

"I fucking hate you," She whispered harshly as she turned to look at Tyler. "I'm so sorry," She whispered.

"What bet, Hailey?" Tyler asked his face turning red. He wasn't sure if it was from the emotions, from his fight with Aaron, or what was going on.

"Do you remember that night at Nicky's when I took you home…" Hailey looked up at Tyler.

"Yeah, what about it?" Tyler asked.

"When Aaron and I were playing pool," She tried hard to get the words out but it was too hard for her.

"We made a bet…" Aaron interjected glaring at Tyler. "She wanted to up the ante on our game.." Aaron smirked. "And guess what, I won…"

"Hailey…" Tyler was almost breathless when he said her name, his face showing his sadness as she nearly fell apart in front of him. "Is this true?"

"Yes," She whispered. "He told me that I had to make you fall for me, and then break up with you after you were completely head over heels for me… to break your heart…" He could just barely understand her through her tears. "I didn't know you then Tyler; I agreed to do it before I knew you…" She grabbed his face in her hands and looked him dead in the eye. "It was before I fell in love with you… I really care about you… and…"

"You've got to be kidding me…" Tyler's face was flushed; he felt the stinging in his eyes and glanced over at Reid who didn't look a bit shocked at all by what Hailey had just said.

"Tyler, I'm so sorry…" Hailey stated tears streaming down her face as she looked up at her boyfriend. "I've been trying to find the right way to tell you myself, but I just couldn't find the right time…"

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Tyler looked at Reid, tears slowly falling from those deep blue eyes.

Reid couldn't say anything, he opened his mouth but nothing came out. Tyler bit his bottom lip and shook his head.

"How can you say that you love me…" Tyler whispered looking down at her. "All of this was based on some stupid bet… some stupid bet that you made with him…" He pointed to Aaron. "Of all people, it had to be the one person that hates me and my friends more than anything…"

"Tyler, I do love you…" Hailey managed to squawk between her sobs. "I love you more than you even know…" She took a deep breath and the bell rang the hallway flooding with bodies. But it seemed like everything stopped.

'I hope you're happy…" Tyler stated harshly. "Because you got what you wanted…" He glared up at Aaron who was silent watching everything unfold before him. "I just had my heart broken,"

With that Tyler walked past her as Hailey pleaded with him to stay. She glared at Aaron and grabbed on to his coat before he could leave her to her demise. She stared him cold in the face and slapped him.

"I hope you fucking rot in hell," She whispered harshly before shoving him in to the crowd and falling to her knees.

The tears poured down her face as she rested her head in her hands. Hailey ignored the people walking by, not caring what they were saying about her. Not caring if anyone saw her cry. She had just lost two of the most important people in her life; her best friend and her boyfriend.

"Hailey, I'm sorry…" Reid's voice seemed out of place, she felt his cold fingers on her face lifting her chin up to look at him.

"Why…" She huffed trying to catch her breath, "Why are y-you sorry?" She asked squeezing her eyes shut. She put her hands over her chest, and she literally felt as if someone had just ripped her heart out.

"I just stood there, I didn't defend you… I really didn't help the situation…" Reid stated as he helped her up.

"I just want to go crawl in to my bed and die…" She leaned her head against the lockers. "You should go talk to Tyler… leave me here… he's your best friend…" She whispered wiping her face with the back of her hand.

Reid didn't say anything he gave her hand a small squeeze before running in to the crowd to look for Tyler. Hailey rested her head back in to the lockers and slid back down to the ground, not caring if she tripped anyone, or if anyone was looking at her weird.

Reid ran out in to the parking lot and saw Tyler's black Hummer sitting in the parking lot. It was on but he wasn't going anywhere. Reid ran over to it, hoping that his best friend wouldn't leave before he got there.

He threw open the door and Tyler was leaned against the steering wheel and his body was shaking as the music was turned up loudly. Reid shut the door quickly and turned down the music. He received a sideways glare from his best friend.

"I can't believe you knew about this…" Tyler stated his voice was shaky, his eyes were bloodshot and his face was red. "You are supposed to be my best friend, Reid…"

"I am your best friend, Tyler…" Reid stated as he reached over and turned his best friend's car off. "Look at me,"

Tyler sighed and looked over at him, his eyes were much darker than usual, if Reid didn't know better he would have nearly thought Tyler was using.

"I didn't tell you because I promised Hails I wouldn't…" Reid stated. Tyler's mouth fell open and he stared at his best friend in complete shock. "But I did it for you," Reid said. "You both love each other, regardless of the stupid bet she made with Aaron…" Reid tried to fix what just happened. "She's been wanting to tell you ever since she told me… she was just trying to find the right time…"

"Don't make excuses for her…" Tyler stated glaring over at Reid.

"I'm not trying to Tyler, I'm telling you the truth," Reid stated.

"It's a little late for the truth now…" Tyler sighed as he cranked up the SUV and drove to the dorms.

Hailey stayed put she didn't want to move, she didn't want to get up and she wanted to disappear. No matter what she did she couldn't stop the tears from falling.

"Hailey?" A soft female voice came, it was a lot closer than she originally thought, as the person said her name again.

She looked up and saw a very blurred Sarah Wenham kneeling down next to her, she buried her head in her hands and tried to ignore the blonde, but it was no use. She knew Sarah too well, and if Sarah set her mind to something, she was going to succeed with it.

"Hailey, what's wrong?" Sarah asked.

"It's a l-long story…" She stuttered.

"I've got plenty of time…" Sarah stated glancing around noticing that the school was pretty much cleared out.

"Trust me," Hailey gained a little bit of composure. "If I told you, you wouldn't be so nice to me right now…"

"Does this have something to do with Aaron?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah," She nodded biting back another sob.

"Look, I'm not here to judge you, Hailey… I just want to be a good friend…"

Hailey looked up at her again and helped herself off of the ground, with a little bit of help from Sarah, "Are you sure you want to know about this?" She asked.

"Of course, c'mon I'll drive you back to the dorms…"

The ride back to the dorms was abnormally quiet, she knew she would have to tell Sarah and at least she would hear the truth, or her version of the story. After arriving at the dorms Hailey invited Sarah up to her dorm to explain to her what happened.

Hailey laid it all out there for Sarah, telling her everything that she could remember about the bet, the conversations with Aaron, and the actually falling for Tyler. She explained to Sarah that she didn't want to go through with the bet as soon as she got to know Tyler.

Sarah sat like a fish open mouth and all, listening to every word of her explanation and not interrupting at all.

Hailey collapsed on to her bed and stared up at Sarah who was sitting on the extra bed, "I'm the most horrible person in the world…"

"We all make mistakes…" Sarah piped in. "We do stupid things, and regret them later…" She got up and sat down next to Hailey who sat back up. "I mean if I were Tyler I'd be pretty upset,"

"He has every right to hate me, I know…" Hailey pulled her pillow to her and cuddled up to it. "I never felt like this before… I mean I thought breaking up with Reid was bad… my god…"

"You can still win him back," Sarah offered.

"How?" Hailey shrugged. "I totally screwed everything up…" She sniffled and glanced over at Sarah, she knew she looked like hell, and probably did not deserve how nice Sarah was being to her.

"You may have screwed things up, but you can apologize… you can offer to start over again… something…" Sarah stated.

"He probably won't even give me the time of day…"

"You won't know until you've tried…" Sarah stated.

Sarah sat with her for a while and finally after a call from Caleb, a not too happy Caleb from what Hailey heard, she decided to leave. Hailey gave her an appreciative smile and gave her a hug.

"Thank you Sarah," Hailey stated.

"For what?" Sarah asked.

"For being a good friend, even after…" She trailed off.

"Hey… it was the bet that made you date him, but it didn't make you fall for him…" She shook her head.

"Still, thanks…" She whispered.

"Call me if you need to talk… ok?" Sarah asked.

Hailey forced a smile and a nod as she closed the door behind Sarah.

Sarah shook her thoughts and walked downstairs to meet with Caleb. She was halfway across the lobby when Caleb yelled her name.

"What were you doing talking to her; did you hear what she did to Tyler?" Caleb asked as they walked outside together.

"She's our friend Caleb, and you heard part of the story, I let her explain to me what happened…" Sarah stated calmly trying to ease Caleb's fierce attitude.

"She probably lied, just like her relationship with Tyler, was all a lie…" Caleb muttered.

"Caleb," Sarah glared at him. "What is wrong with you, calm down…"

"You don't understand Sarah…" Caleb shook his head. "Tyler has been through enough in his life, he really loved her… and she tore his heart out…"

"She does love him, she didn't want to go through with the bet after she got to know Tyler… she realized what a great guy he was but Aaron used his powers of manipulation…" Sarah explained.

Caleb sat back and listened as Sarah told him Hailey's side of the story.

* * *

**The reverse psychology seems to be working so I'm going with it. DON'T REVIEW... DON'T PRESS THE BLUE BUTTON, don't do it! ;) **

**I've already got the beginning of the next chapter done, so you might get lucky today, you might get lucky tomorrow we'll see:) **


	18. I Owe It To Him

**Woohoo, I'm on a roll with this story... I'm proud of myself.**

**Even more proud because you guys are enjoying it. I hope the last few chapters are ok, and that I'm relaying the emotions the group is feeling, etc... ok...**

* * *

**Chapter 18 – I Owe It to Him**

The next week of school was pure hell for Hailey. She received dirty looks on top of snickers, stares and more rumors. She should have known better when she originally made the bet with Aaron. She knew that everything Aaron was behind would backfire.

Hailey stopped at her locker and slowly put in her combination. She heard the girls next to her snicker and glare at her, "What did Tyler see in her anyway, she's so ugly… he can do so much better than that tramp…"

She held back another string of tears; she knew she looked like hell. She felt like hell. Crying hurt her as much physically as it did emotionally. She probably looked like she got ran over by a Mack truck.

She slid out her books for her first period and flinched feeling someone's hand clamp over her elbow.

She looked up and saw the pale blue eyes of her ex-boyfriend's best friend; she forced a smile and glanced at him. "Hey Reid," She said softly.

"How you holdin' up?" He asked carefully.

"I still want to crawl in to my bed and die…" She shrugged looking around seeing people whisper about the two talking.

"I tried to talk to Tyler yesterday…" Reid stated running a gloved hand through his hair. "He was just too upset to listen to anything I had to say, so I think I'll try again today… you should try and talk to him…"

"I can't…." Hailey shook her head.

"Why not?" Reid asked.

"I'm terrified to talk to him, Reid…" Hailey whispered. "I feel like a complete asshole…"

"You should," Reid stated shrugging his shoulders.

"You're not helping…" She stated as Reid laughed with her, she smiled and he grinned.

"I knew I could get you to smile…" The blonde retorted.

"You're soiling your reputation talking to me here, blondie…"

"What's there to soil?" Reid stated.

Hailey shook her head; she never thought that she would be talking to Reid like this after what he did to her last year. But after the other day she understood him a little bit better, and things seemed to be in perspective. Everything, that was except for Tyler.

"I'll catch you later, ok?"

The first class of the day she would be sitting next to her ex best friend; just what she needed. She took her seat and Aaron was reclining back in his chair. She glared at him, hoping that he would fall, or humiliate himself some how.

"Good Morning, Hailey Gregory…" Aaron grinned at her.

"Go to hell Aaron…" She muttered loud enough for everyone to hear her.

"Awe, don't be such a sour puss…" Aaron continued to probe her. Hailey ignored his comment until he got close to her and whispered to her, "Your tragic little break up nearly broke my heart…"

Hailey jumped out of her seat, she was almost seeing red, she hated him… she never thought she would feel that way about Aaron, but she wanted to see him in pain.

"Don't fucking talk to me, you prick…" She yelled catching the attention of everyone in class including Tyler and Reid.

"Is there a problem, Miss Gregory?" Professor Gardener asked.

"Yes, yes there is a big problem…" Hailey stated walking down the stairs to the teacher. "I can no longer sit next to that jerk…" She tried to say it as quietly as possible as she shot daggers in Aaron's direction and he just sat back smirking, lacing his fingers behind his head.

"You can go ahead and take the empty seat next to your boyfriend then Miss Gregory…" Professor Gardener stated. She had seen the two together and knew that they were boyfriend and girlfriend, but she must not have gotten the update.

"But Professor…" Hailey started to say.

"Just take a seat Miss Gregory," the Professor stated loosing her patience with Hailey.

Hailey hung her head and slowly walked up the stairs eying Reid who looked at her in shock. Reid nudged Tyler who was lying on his desk. The brunette looked up and it broke Hailey's heart to seem him like she did.

His hair was all disheveled, his eyes were blood shot and puffy, he had bags under his eyes, and he looked like a complete mess. His eyes narrowed at her and she swallowed loudly. She gave him her best sympathetic smile and leaned down to Reid.

"Gardener thinks we're still together, I asked to move, and so she's sitting me here…" She stated.

"What's wrong?" Reid asked.

"Aaron was bothering me," She retorted trying to be quiet and not disturb Tyler.

Reid nodded and sent a glare up in Aaron's direction. Soon class ended and Hailey ran out of class as fast as she could. She was too close to Tyler in that class, too close for their own good. She tried her best to avoid the Sons of Ipswich and Aaron for the rest of the day, thankful that it was almost Friday.

"You should go talk to him after school…" A voice said from behind her.

Hailey turned around to see Sarah and Caleb standing behind her, "Sarah I can't…"

"You can," Sarah nodded. "He deserves to hear the full truth…everything… just like you told me…"

She left with Caleb sending her an empathetic smile. She bit her bottom lip and realized that Sarah was right. She hurriedly grabbed her things and walked out to the parking lot; she spotted Tyler's parking spot and noticed he was no longer parked there.

Cursing she fled across campus and to the dorms. She had to get to Tyler before she talked herself out of talking to him. She ran up the stairs nearly knocking over several students on the way up.

She heard them make smart comments about her, but she ignored them and kept running. She got to the fourth floor and stopped in front of Reid and Tyler's room. Clearing her throat, she raised her hand to knock on the door just as it was opening.

She swallowed loudly, her heart beating a mile a minute as Reid nearly ran in to her. He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her in shock.

"Hails, what are you doing here?" He asked quietly.

He closed the door slightly when Tyler asked who was at the door, "I came to talk to Tyler…"

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Reid asked closing the door again as he avoided Tyler's questions.

"I have to do it now before I talk myself out of it again…" Hailey stated.

"Reid, why are you ignoring me? Who is at the door?" She heard Tyler's voice as the door swung open and Tyler glared at Reid and diverted his attention to her. Tyler didn't say anything his face just fell as he looked at Reid and then back at Hailey. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you," Hailey stated, giving Tyler a pleading look.

She felt the familiar sting in her nose that came just before the tears started; she fought them back as Tyler began to shut the door, "I really don't want to talk to you, Hailey…"

The way he said her name stabbed her deep. It was cold, and hollow, without any emotion at all. His face was cold stone and he didn't flinch as Reid stopped him from shutting the door.

"You should just talk to her," Reid stated as he exited the room.

Hailey stood watching Reid walk away and then turned back to Tyler who was missing parts of his school uniform. His eyes weren't nearly as blood shot as they were, and the swelling had gone down. She could see it in his eyes though, and it pained her to even look at him.

"Can we please talk…" She asked him as nicely as possible.

Tyler didn't say anything he opened the door and stepped aside so that Hailey could enter the room. She took a step in and he closed the door behind her, she swallowed and fidgeted with her hands nervously.

She looked up at him, chewing on her bottom lip as if it were the last piece of nutrition she would ever get, "I wanted to say firstly, that I'm sorry about everything…" She whispered. "I'm mostly sorry about how you found out…"

Tyler looked away from her and took a seat on his bed, and then pointed to Reid's messy, unmade bed. Hailey quickly took a seat before Tyler changed his mind.

"But I want to tell you everything. I want to be a hundred percent honest with you, exactly how it should have been…"

"I think it's a little late for honesty," Tyler barked.

"Tyler, please…" Hailey leaned forward her hands outstretching to his. Tyler pulled his hands away and situated himself, Hailey swallowed hard; rejection was hard for her, especially from Tyler.

"You want to explain yourself, so do it…" Tyler stated calmly.

"That night at Nicky's Aaron and I were playing pool, and we were wagering a couple dollars here and there. I really thought I had the game in the bag, so I told him we should up the stakes…" Hailey took a deep breath and glanced down at her trembling hands. "I told him that he would have to be at my beck and call, and he would have to tell Kira about us…" She swallowed. "He told me if he won, I'd have to make one of you four fall for me…" She took in a deep breath. "Pogue and Caleb were out of the question because they were both seeing someone, and I thought it was going to be Reid, until Aaron switched it up on me and said you…"

Tyler tilted his head to the side and looked at her, "So there was something going on between you and Aaron before us?" He asked.

"Kind of," Hailey answered. "I've never seen Aaron in a 'boyfriend' kind of way, and we were just kind of fooling around, we never actually went further than kissing… but I guess I never realized that he actually liked me in that way…"

Tyler gave her a small smirk, "How many times did I tell you?" He shook his head.

"I guess I was a bit oblivious to it, but anyway…" Hailey shrugged her shoulders forward. "As you know I went to the bar, and flirted with you… and then took you home that night…" He nodded his head shortly waiting for her to continue.

"Well right after that I didn't want to go through with the bet, because I found out that you were really a great guy…"

"Why'd you agree to it in the first place?" Tyler asked.

"I only agreed because at first I thought it would be Garwin, so I could make him feel like I did when he dumped me…" Hailey looked down at the ground. "After I found out it was you, I had always thought you were good looking Tyler, but I never had a reason to just go up and talk to you…"

"You could have…" He answered back.

"I know," Hailey sighed heavily shaking her head. "I'm an idiot for not just doing that, but Aaron was my best friend, and he _hated_ you all with a passion, and I just felt like I'd betray him if I did that on my own accord…"

"That's stupid,"

Hailey nodded her head, "Well Aaron told me what the consequences were if I backed out of our bet… and I wasn't going to let that happen…" She bit her bottom lip, it was already red from her previous chewing and she wouldn't be surprised if it started bleeding.

"What were the consequences?" Tyler asked.

"That's not important…" Hailey stated as she tried to continue.

"Hailey, what were the consequences?" Tyler inquired glaring over at her.

"I would have to give Aaron the one thing he's been wanting for over a year now…" The brunette girl looked down at her hands. "And I didn't want to be the next Kira for him or his next one-nighter… I couldn't see that side of Aaron…"

"He actually said that?" Tyler asked appalled. "What kind of friend is he?"

"The manipulative kind…"

Tyler shook his head and couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"After that it wasn't about the bet anymore…" Hailey shook her head. "To me I wasn't playing along with his stupid bet… it was about you and me…" She felt that sting in her nose and the tears slipped from her eyes. "I didn't care about the bet after the night we were together…"

"I just told Aaron I was still in the game, but I wasn't…" She squeezed her eyes shut. "Everything during our relationship was real…" She opened her eyes and stared at him. "Everything…"

"That doesn't change the fact that you made the bet…" Tyler stated calmly, his hand reached out and wiped the stray tears from her cheeks.

Hailey's entire body fluttered at his touch, "I know," She whispered. "And I regret it more than you know Tyler…" She pursed her lips together. "I never felt for anyone what I feel for you…" The young girl looked down at her hands, "I never thought I'd throw something like this away like I did… and I'm sorry Tyler…" She could barely finish what she was saying before she was out of her seat and throwing herself out of the room.

Tyler stood up as soon as she said her last words, and before he could even react she fled the room. He stood with his mouth agape looking like a fish out of water. It hurt him to look at her, but to hear her words, to hear the actual story from the lips of the girl he loved.

Though it was wrong, it fell in to place. He had done things he regretted because he felt pressure from his so called "brothers". Could he really hold this against her, could he really throw what he felt for her away, like she had just said?

Would he jeopardize his happiness because of some stupid bet she had with Aaron Abbott? Tyler fell back on to his bed and held his hands over his face. He had a lot of thinking to do, a lot.

Hailey had just made it to her room, when she opened her door she wasn't expecting to see who she saw sitting in her room. Reid was sitting on her bed Indian Style. He looked up at her expectantly, as if he had been waiting to hear the good news.

"What?" She asked noticing his questioning look.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I told him everything, and I left…"

"You left?" Reid asked.

"I just blurted out that I was sorry, started balling and here I am…" Hailey motioned down to her body and wiped her face clean with the sleeve of her jacket.

"You didn't even give him a chance to say anything back?" Reid asked.

"No," Hailey shook her head. "He's put up with so much shit for me, that he shouldn't have to put up with mine too… it's not like I'm going to apologize and suddenly everything's ok…"

"You never know…" Reid shrugged his shoulders.

"Reid, I'm trying to be realistic… ok…"

"I am too, Tyler is incredibly understanding… he's the kind of person that forgives and forgets…"

"I don't expect him to forgive me for this Reid, I totally fucked up and that's on me…"

"I know, but you love him… don't you?" Reid asked getting up from the bed.

"More than you can imagine…" Hailey stated closing her eyes and leaning against the door.

"And I know my best friend; he loves you more than he loves himself…" Reid grabbed her shoulders.

"Did someone put some kind of spell on you Reid Garwin?" Hailey glanced up at him.

Reid's eyes went wide and he looked at her, "No why would you say that?" He asked a bit uneasy.

"Relax," Hailey smiled a little bit. "I just meant, that you're not acting like your normal bad boy, player self…"

"With my friends I'm different…" He stated giving her jaw a light tap with his knuckles. "We'll figure this out…"

"We?" She asked looking up at him.

"I owe it to Tyler to help him get his shit straight, after all the fucked up shit I've done to that kid… he deserves me to do something for him for a change…" Reid smirked.

"That's real sweet of you Garwin…"

"I try," He grinned again. "But if he decides he's done with you, I'll come by and sweep you off your feet again…"

Hailey gawked at him, "Reid…."

"I was just kidding," He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "Trying to get anything out of you but tears…"

"That'll be hard for a while…"

Reid gave her a small squeeze before leaving her room. Hailey fell back on to her bed and thought about what Reid said. He owed it to Tyler, and so did she. She loved him, and she wasn't going to let him get away… not if she had anything to do with it.

* * *

**Don't click the blue button, don't do it!! (Hey you can't blame me, it's been working:))**


	19. No More

**These chapters are just spilling out of me. I'm a little bit excited over it. I want to hurry up and post the next one... haha! ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 19 – No More**

Over the next few weeks Hailey talked herself in and out of approaching Tyler. Every time she talked herself in to it, she'd talk herself right back out of it. She didn't want to be rejected, that could be the worst thing that she would have to go through.

It was one of the reasons why she took her break up with Reid so hard.

Her older sister never accepted her, always called her the adopted child that was one of the reasons she chose to live in the dorms. Her baby brother, he was her mother's favorite, where as her older sister was her father's favorite.

Over the years, it settled in to Hailey's mind, and she began to accept it. She stopped trying to do extra little things for her siblings or for her parents and actually asked for them to send her away to boarding school.

Spencer was what she got. Yes, it was an upper class school, but it wasn't far enough away from her family.

She was rejected by the first boy she liked, and she stayed locked in a shell until Reid Garwin came along. Reid Garwin charmed his way in to her life, and then in to her pants.

Then Aaron picked up the pieces, Aaron pulled her back in to the girl she used to be. And she loved him for that, but she had never seen him as more than just a friend. It was hard to think of him in any different light, and now she didn't want to see him at all.

She realized that she screwed everything up. Her family she had screwed up years ago, her social life, yep down the drain… and now her love life was nonexistent.

She recalled a conversation she had with Aaron during their bet, and had to laugh at how true he was when he said what he did.

"_It's perfect… you're like a disease…"_

Everything she touched didn't turn to gold; it went to hell and back.

"There you are…" A male's voice tore her out of her thoughts.

She had spent ever lunch since the breakup outside by the lake. It was peaceful and no one ever bothered her, or could find her for that matter.

"Reid?" She shielded her eyes from the sun.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked leaning over to catch his breath. "You have been completely impossible to catch up with, you know that…"

"It's easy to be invisible when you don't want to be found…" Hailey shrugged her shoulders and squinted up at him.

"You're driving me and Tyler absolutely nuts…" Reid stated sitting down.

"Tyler?" Hailey questioned.

"He's been wanting to talk to you," Reid told her biting his lower lip. "Every time he tries to get your attention you disappear…"

"I've wanted to talk to him too, but I'm so afraid…" Hailey whispered. Hailey could feel the tears threatening as she held them back.

"You had better stop all of this crying…" Reid stated using the cuff of his sleeve to wipe the tears away. "Sarah told me about your crying fits…"

"I do not have crying fits…" Hailey felt embarrassed, her cheeks turned bright red as she glanced at the blonde. "I just happen to have random outbursts of tears…"

"God you're more of a baby than Tyler…" He groaned. "Will you come with me to talk to him?"

"R-Reid, I don't think I can do that…" Hailey stated shaking her head.

"If you don't agree to it… I'm going to pin you to the ground, text message him and make him come out here and talk to you while I've got you pinned…"

Hailey thought about denying his request, but then knowing Reid knew he would follow through with what he had just said, and that was a little too much body to body contact with the blonde. She gave him a slight nod and Reid grinned, he pulled himself off of the ground and pulled her up to her full height.

"I'm glad you see things my way," He smirked.

Hailey followed Reid back in to the school, he lead her towards the library and she grabbed his elbow, and glanced at him.

"You know where the library is?" She asked.

"Yep," He gave her a look and a naughty smirk appeared on his face.

"Oh, you are sick…" She slapped his shoulder and he laughed.

"You had to ask…"

Hailey shook her head at the thought and followed the blonde as he brought her to the second floor of the library, or the 'stacks' as the kids called them. She stuck her hands in to the pockets of her blue blazer and Reid nodded his head in one direction.

She gave Reid a small smile and went down an aisle of old dusty books, she saw Tyler leaning against he back wall and he was looking down as if trying to gather his thoughts. She cleared her throat as she got closer and Tyler's head snapped up.

"He found you," Tyler stated.

"He did…" She whispered.

Tyler looked her over and a small weak smile formed on his lips, "I've wanted to talk to you the last few weeks now…" He looked her dead in the eye.

"I've wanted to talk to you too," She could feel her hands shaking.

"Then why have you been avoiding me, and Reid?" Tyler asked.

"I'm terrified…" She admitted.

"Of?" Tyler questioned.

"Of what might happen if we talk… I'm just scared…"

Tyler reached out and lifted her chin to look at him, "You don't have to be scared with me…"

"I can't help it," She whispered.

Tyler looked at her almost scared to pull her towards him. He was hurting, but he could tell she was too. He thought against his better judgment and pulled her body in to his. He hugged her as tight as he could, and he felt her nails dig in to his back as she clutched on to him, tears falling from her eyes.

"Tyler, we shouldn't…" She whispered not wanting to let go.

"I know," He whispered resting his chin on top of her head. "I know."

He held her for what seemed like an eternity before letting her go, "I'm so sorry, so-so-so-so sorry…" She repeated over and over again pulling away from him to look up in to his blue eyes. "I miss you so much," She felt another round of tears choking in her throat.

"Hailey…" Tyler pulled away from her, looking down at her.

"Yes?" She asked letting go of him, and taking a step back.

"I want to talk to you about this," He stated putting his hands in his pockets.

"Ok," She took a deep breath, knowing that what he was going to say wasn't what she wanted to hear, but he had to hear it.

"I don't think we should be together…" He sighed and looked down at his hands, "I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I think we should rebuild our friendship before we do anything else…"

Hailey took another step back and her mouth fell open in disbelief, "Tyler,"

"I know it's now what you wanted to hear, but I don't think I can jump back in to this relationship… not after what happened… it wouldn't be fair to me or you…"

Hailey shook her head and smiled, "Are you crazy?" Tyler looked at her confused, "I was expecting for you to tell me you don't ever want to see me again… like ever…" She stated emphasizing her words by talking with her hands.

Tyler looked at her, "Are you crazy?" He asked. She nodded her head to be a bit sarcastic and he smirked, "I'm crazy about you… ok…" He cupped her face in his hands. "I care about you more than I should,"

"I know," She looked down and sighed.

"But, that's not a bad thing…"

"This means so much to me Tyler, you have no idea…"

"Look, if I can forgive my best friend for kissing the love of my life right in front of me, I think I can forgive you for this… those are two very farfetched things I never thought I'd have to forgive anyone for…"

"From now on, no lies, no secrets… I will be one hundred percent honest with you no matter what…" Hailey stated shaking her head.

"And that's another thing…" Tyler had finally let go of her face, "It's going to take some time for me to be able to build back the trust that we had…"

"Trust me I understand, but I won't ever give you a reason not to… ok?" She stated.

"No more secrets… no more lies…" He asked sticking out his hand.

"None, and definitely no more bets…" She stated shaking his hand with a grin on her face.

Tyler let out a small laugh and pulled her closer to his body, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting hug, "Definitely no more bets…"

* * *

**Don't click the little blue button, don't do it:) - Woohoo, I might post the next chapter today if you don't! **


	20. Idiot

**Woohoo... here we go...**

* * *

**Chapter 20 – Idiot**

"What the hell is that?" Aaron pointed to Reid, Tyler and Hailey walking in to first period the following day. He was standing in the hall with Kira, Brody and Ryan.

"I thought he hated her after what she did to you two?" Ryan raised an eyebrow glancing over at Hailey who seemed a bit awkward towards Tyler, but they were still chatting about something with Reid.

"Didn't she cheat on both of you with each other?" Brody asked glancing over at the brunette who disappeared out of sight.

"I still can't believe you dated her, I told you she was a whore…" Kira snickered flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Aaron ignored all of their comments and walked in to class, he headed straight to the threesome that were now taking their seats and discussing the homework from the night before. Aaron slammed his hands down on Hailey's desk causing her to jump out of her seat in shock, and clutch her chest.

"What the hell Aaron?" Reid asked already getting defensive.

"I should be asking him that," He pointed his finger to Tyler.

"What do I have to do with anything?" Tyler asked nonchalantly as he took out his books. "Hey Hailey, what'd you get for number three?" He asked casually.

Hailey tried to hide her smile as she pulled out her homework, "Here, just copy it… that's what Reid did…" She grinned lifting an eyebrow up at Aaron. "Is there a problem Aaron?"

Aaron's nose began to twitch like it normally did when he was angry; he shoved her desk and walked back out of the classroom. She grinned and mouthed a 'Thanks' to the two guys to her right. They had decided that they would act like nothing was wrong, to get back at Aaron, even though things were sort of back to normal.

"He's going to be going nuts by the end of the day, guaranteed that he shows up at my dorm tonight…" Hailey stated.

After school Hailey had decided to drive in to town to get herself a caramel macchiato, she had been craving one lately and was free of any drama, at least for the time being and was able to grab a hot latte from her favorite Starbucks in town. She paid for her drink and took a seat; she opened up her book and began reading.

"Hi," A voice interrupted her from her mystery thriller by Eric Spindler. She looked up and a very handsome young man took the seat next to her.

"Hi," She smiled politely at him as he took a sip from his coffee.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but notice you when I walked in…" He gave her a wicked grin. Hailey blushed slightly and his smile grew. "You got to Spencer?" He asked, noting her uniform which bore the school's crest on the blue blazer.

"I do," She nodded her head. He had beautiful blue eyes, just a bit lighter than Tyler's and his hair was in a messy spiked style, much like Caleb's.

"I went there at the beginning of the year…" He sighed and leaned back.

"What happened?" She asked her eyebrows creasing together in confusion.

He sucked in a deep breath and leaned forward, "I got in to this huge fight with one of my friends, it was kind of _explosive_ and well they expelled me…" He shrugged his shoulders forward.

"That's terrible…" She remarked. She glanced down at her watch and looked outside it was starting to get dark. "I'm sorry… I should get going…" She pointed towards the door. "It was nice meeting you…" She trailed off not knowing his name.

"Chase," He smiled at her. "And you are?" He held out his hand.

"Hailey," She introduced herself and smiled, shaking his hand. "Well, it was nice meeting you Chase, but I should really get going…" She stated heading towards the door.

The ride back to the dorms was long and uneventful; Hailey was fully expecting what she saw when she walked in to her room. Aaron was lying on her bed as if he had never ruined her life. She tossed her books to the side and glared at him.

"So there's no more trouble in paradise?" Aaron asked. Hailey didn't reply back she just stared him down. "Simms is a little more understanding than I thought," He pursed his lips together. "What could you have possibly done to change his mind?"

"I told him the truth," Hailey stated holding her head up. "I suggest you leave Aaron…"

"What are you going to do… call your little boyfriends?"

"And if I did?" Hailey questioned not bothering to look away from him.

"C'mon Hails…" Aaron stood up and moved towards her. "We've been friends for a long time…" He smiled at her. "You can forgive and forget with Reid… and Tyler can forgive both of you… why can't we go back to the way things were?" He asked.

Hailey stared at him for a moment, "Are you mentally challenged?" She asked him shaking her head. "You ruined my life, Aaron…" She stated angrily, she flung open the door and gave him a stern look that said to get out.

"We can work things out, babe…" Aaron stated.

"You took away the one person I love, you were supposed to be my best friend and you back stabbed me, and you want to work things out?" Hailey yelled at him as he entered the hall. The attention of every person in the hallway was now caught. "I don't want to talk to you Aaron; I don't want to see you… I don't want to even breathe the same air as you… and I suggest you get the hell away from me now, before something very, very bad happens…" She stated.

Aaron's mouth fell open as he gawked at her; she just humiliated him in front of the entire 3rd floor or the Spencer Dormitory. She gave him a small little wave before slamming the door shut behind her.

She felt almost relieved after yelling at Aaron. She felt as if she owed it to herself to do this. She had to make him feel miserable and let him know he couldn't get away with treating her the way he did.

She realized that her friendship with Aaron was pretty much over, and that it might not ever rekindle, but if he treats his friends that way, she knew she didn't want to be one of his comrades. She couldn't take the manipulation, the lies and the deceit that Aaron Abbott threw out on a daily basis.

"What happened to you Aaron?" She whispered throwing out her coffee cup.

The next several days went on and Aaron avoided her like the plague, a lot of people around school had heard what happened between them and their attitude towards Hailey changed a little bit. She didn't mind either way she was friends with Tyler and if that's all she could be right now, she was going to take it for what it was worth.

She had continued her new habit of eating or sitting by the lake during lunch, she took her seat and was soon joined by Reid who gave her a small grin.

"What are you up to Garwin?" She asked knowing the look on his face.

"I'm not up to anything, Hails… why would you think that?" He questioned.

"Because believe it or not, I know you…" She stated quietly as she took a sip from her coffee cup.

"Nothing, just that my birthday is next week…" He commented with his ever present smirk.

"Really?" Hailey asked with a small smile.

"Yeah, and I was planning on throwing a party at my place, but figured I might need some help…"

"And that's where I come in?" Hailey asked.

"Of course, you're a girl… and you know how to do all the inviting bullshit…" Reid stated.

"So, what kind of party are we talking here Mr. Garwin?"

"I was thinking like a masquerade ball…" Reid smiled, Hailey looked over at him.

"That actually sounds really cool, so what do you want me to do?"

"Whatever you want…" Reid stated getting up.

"Reid," She pulled herself up and followed him. "I don't know the first thing about a masquerade ball…" She stated grabbing his arm.

"Google it…" He laughed.

"Budget?" She asked.

Reid smirked and grabbed his back pocket, he pulled out his wallet and walked back over to her, he handed her a platinum card and grinned, "There is none…"

He turned around and walked away, "Reid!" She yelled after him but it was no use, the blonde had already glided far enough away where she wasn't about to run after him. "No budget, masquerade ball…" She sighed and looked around. "Why do I let him talk me in to these things?" She asked silently.

Hailey grabbed her things and went straight to the library. She jumped on to a free computer and googled masquerade balls just like Reid said to do. She used her free period to do some research; his birthday was next week after all.

"What are you up to?" A voice brought her back in to reality. Hailey turned around and saw Caleb standing behind her, his arms crossed over his chest.

Things had been awkward between the two of them, to say the least. She gave him a small smile and moved over so he could see what she was up to.

"Masquerade ball?" He questioned.

"Reid asked me to help him plan his birthday party, and this is what he had in mind…" Hailey pointed out.

"Leave it to Reid for the extravagant 18th birthday party…" Caleb laughed a little bit.

"It seems like something he would do…" Hailey nodded as she stood up from her seat.

"So, how have you been?" Caleb asked as they walked out of the library together.

"Um, well I can say that I've probably been better…" She stated carefully.

"That's understandable given the circumstances…" He stated. "I just kinda wanted to talk to you," He cleared his throat. "You know you and Sarah are pretty close…"

"Yeah," Hailey stated a bit hesitantly.

"And I know I've been kind of standoffish lately." Caleb started. "I just wanted to apologize if I've seemed rude or anything towards you lately… it's just that Tyler is like my little brother… all of the guys are… and I just try and look out for their best interest."

"I understand completely, I wasn't expecting for things to go the way they did Caleb…" Hailey forced a small smile. "I didn't want to go through with the bet as soon as I started to talk to Tyler. I realized that he was a sweetheart, and I just didn't want to do that to him, and then… then I fell in love with him and… god it was the hardest thing in the world…"

"I can't say that I know where you're coming from…" Caleb held open a hallway door for her as she squeezed by. "But, I know that Tyler loves you, and I can see that you really care about him too," He moved his books to his other arm.

"I do," Hailey fought back her emotions as she looked up at Caleb with tears in her eyes.

Caleb was about to say something when he lurched forward, grabbing his head, as if he were in an immense amount of pain. Hailey let out a worried squeal and grabbed Caleb's arm leading him in to an empty class, making him sit down.

"Caleb are you ok?" She asked worried, perspiration began dripping from his brow as his eyes squinted shut.

"Yeah," He clenched his teeth and held his head. "I just get these… these migraines… and they're really bad sometimes…"

"Do you need me to get you anything?" She asked trying to help out if she could.

"Find Pogue, or Reid or Tyler…" Caleb stated.

Hailey nodded as she walked out of the classroom and went on the search for one of the three Sons of Ipswich. Hailey was on her second lap of the school when she spotted Pogue and Kate, nearly tackling the couple to the ground.

"Hails, what's going on?" Kate asked.

"Caleb," She was out of breath. "Caleb had one of his migraines and he asked me to come find one of the guys…" She huffed.

"One of his migraines?" Kate raised an eyebrow in question and then her mouth fell open as Pogue's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "Oh his migraines…"

"Where is he?" Pogue asked.

"Mr. Hall's classroom…" She pointed down the hall.

Pogue took off down the hall and Hailey caught her breath, "Wow, hunting them down is hard…" She held her side and winced. "How long has Caleb been having these migraines?"

"For about six months now…" Kate stated trying to find an answer that wouldn't be too suspicious. "He started getting them out of nowhere…" She added.

"I'll have to tell him about my doctor…" Hailey mumbled. "I had that problem for a long time… these massive migraines that just took over for a few hours…"

"Caleb has a secret trick that gets rid of them, I think that's why he always asks for one of the guys, cause they know how to do it…" Kate shrugged it off as the two girls walked down the hall towards the senior lockers.

"Must be a pressure point thing…" Hailey remarked.

"Something like that…"

The two girls met up with Sarah and let her know where her boyfriend was. Sarah seemed a little bit more freaked out about the migraine than Hailey was expecting her to be, and once they told Reid and Tyler it seemed like the four Sons disappeared without further notice.

Hailey thought it was awkward but she didn't bring it up until later when the group was leaving the school and heading towards the parking lot.

"Caleb, how's you head?" She asked.

Caleb snapped his neck up and looked at her, "Um, it's ok now… just I get these headaches from time to time… and the guys usually know the right pressure point to ease the pain…"

"I know what you mean, I used to get them all the time… but I take Zomig to help with them…" She smiled. "If you ever have one and one of the three of them isn't around… and you need one just let me know…" She smiled taking out her keys.

"Where are you going?" Tyler asked out of the blue as him and Reid looked at her getting in to her car.

"I've got an 18th birthday party to plan…" She grinned.

Tyler nodded as she slid in to her car and he did the same, looking over at Reid, "Can you believe Caleb?" Tyler asked.

"Yes, he always blames me," Reid rolled his eyes. "He knows that I haven't used in awhile because my birthday is right around the corner."

"That's smart of you," Tyler stated. "I thought you would end up like…"

Tyler trailed off not wanting to bring up a sore subject for both boys, "Like our fathers… yeah I know…" Reid sulked down in to his seat.

"Why did you ask Hailey to organize your party?" Tyler asked curiously as he pulled out of the parking space.

"She's a girl, she has those inherited genes of a woman where she can organize and put things together…" Reid shrugged his shoulders. "You should help her…"

"Why me?" Tyler asked.

"Because you can spend alone time together, and rekindle that flame of passion and love…." Reid emphasized.

"Why do you want us back together so bad?" Tyler asked looking over at his best friend.

"I'm tired of seeing my friend's miserable…" Reid shrugged.

Tyler glanced over at Reid and rolled his eyes, he couldn't argue. He had been completely miserable since he found out about the bet. He seemed to be less miserable after finding out everything from Hailey, but for some reason, he was hurting more than ever.

Tyler knew it was because he wanted to be with Hailey, he wanted nothing more than to be able to hold her, but his conscious wouldn't let him. He had to wait, he told himself, and the waiting was killing him. She was right there, willing, but he wouldn't let it happen.

The two best friends walked to their dorm, when Tyler muttered to himself, "You're an idiot…"

"Tell me how you really feel…" Reid snickered as he unlocked the door.

"Not you, man…" Tyler gave his friend a small smile.

"Then who?" Reid asked.

"Me, I'm an idiot…" Tyler stated flopping on to his bed.

"Why?" Reid asked closing the door and glancing back at his best friend.

"Because, I'm not following my heart…" Tyler moaned in to his pillows.

"With Hailey?" Reid asked.

"Yeah, with Hailey…" Tyler nodded.

Reid sat down on his bed and looked over at Tyler, "I can't tell you what to do Ty, but I can tell that it's eating you up inside…" He pursed his lips together. "But, you know it's doing the same thing to her…"

"I know," Tyler situated himself on to his side as he looked over at Reid.

"If it's meant to happen, it'll happen… ok?" Reid stated.

"When did you become Dr. Phil?" Tyler questioned with a small smile on his face.

"Ever since my best friend fell in love with my ex-girlfriend, someone has to think clearly…" Reid rolled his eyes.

Silence grew between the two before Tyler rolled on to his back and stared up at the ceiling, "Do you think Chase is back?" He asked out of the blue.

"Who else could it be?" Reid grabbed the soccer ball that was resting by his bed and tossed it up in the air. "I mean I'm ascending next week, I can't afford to use my powers, Pogue and Caleb already ascended, and you barely ever use at all…"

"I know," Tyler sighed and pulled a pillow over his face. "I just thought we were rid of him…"

"Me too, man… me too…"

* * *

**Don't press the little blue button, don't do it...**

**Oh... and just so you know... this is setting up for the sequel... YES the sequel! **

* * *


	21. Interrupted

**I'm freaking thrilled at the response I got the last couple of chapters. You guys really blow me away sometimes. You're the ones fueling this story... I couldn't get motivated to write for awhile, but now I can't stop!**

* * *

**Chapter 21 – Interrupted**

Hailey never realized how much work went in to planning a birthday party. Sarah was nice enough to lend a helping hand with the invitations which was pretty much the only thing Reid had a say in.

"Are you planning to be on Super Sweet Sixteen?" Hailey asked looking through the guest list and the invitations Reid had ordered.

"I'm blowing those parties out of the water…" Reid grinned, glancing through her notes. "Remember money is not an option…" He shook his head.

"So when do you want to go pick out your tux?" Hailey asked glancing down at her to do list.

"Tomorrow?" Reid asked looking down at his watch.

"Yeah, do you want the guys to come with so you can all get them at the same time, or what?" She asked.

"Yeah, call them and let them know…" Reid nodded as he popped a grape in to his mouth. The two were in his dorm room going over the information.

"Why don't you call them, they're your friends…" Hailey stated shaking her head.

"They're your friends too…" Reid pointed out.

Hailey didn't say anything instead she hit Reid in the head with the top of her pencil. The door opened and Tyler came rushing in letting his book bag fall to the ground. He laid down on his bed and let out an exhausted sigh.

"What's wrong?" Reid asked, pushing the invitations to the side.

"Freaking Pogue…" Tyler heaved. "He wanted to do extra laps after you and Caleb left, and he dragged me in to it… then he wanted to run the track…" Tyler caught his breath.

"Doesn't Caleb usually do that with him?" Hailey asked scratching her head in thought.

"Yeah, but Danvers bailed, and so did you… so I got stuck doing it…" He pointed to Reid and leaned forward. "I'm never doing that again…"

"So that's their trick…" Hailey mused out loud.

"What trick?" Reid asked confused.

"Why those two are so buff…" She grinned glancing from Reid to Tyler.

"You never complained before…" Tyler stated glancing down at his body.

"There's nothing to complain about, I'm just saying…" Hailey stated blushing slightly.

"Yeah, you never complained before…" Reid stated with a wicked grin.

"Don't be a jerk Garwin," Hailey pushed him.

Reid got up and stood to his full height, he winked at Tyler and turned to Hailey, "I'm gonna go see if Boston's ready to do some invitations, I'll be back in a few…"

With that the blonde left the two alone in his dorm room and smiled to himself as he did so. Hailey looked down at her list of things to do in the next week before Reid's party and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Tyler asked.

"Lots to do…" She scanned over the list.

"You want some help?" He offered.

Hailey looked up and their eyes met for a brief moment, "I'd love some..." She responded with a small smile. "Tomorrow we're going to get Reid's tux, we decided all of your guys should probably come to get it out of the way..."

"Ok, so maybe Saturday we can go out and pick up some of this stuff?" Tyler asked taking the list from her.

"That's what I was thinking, that way we can get a bulk of it done, and just get things started at his house, he said his mom is gone for about two weeks, so we've got plenty of time to decorate and clean up afterwards.

"Yeah, business trip or something…" Tyler nodded his head. "Well if you need help just call me and let me know… but how about we go at 1 on Saturday?" He asked.

"That's perfect…" She nodded her head.

"Maybe we can do lunch first?" Tyler offered.

Hailey stopped writing and looked up from her paper, "Lunch?" She whispered.

"Yeah, lunch…" Tyler nodded.

"I'd love lunch…" She smiled and went back to writing.

Moments later Reid came back in to the room with Sarah and Kate. The girls were instructed by Reid that each scroll was to be tied with a gold ribbon, with a gold leaf, with the name of the person in calligraphy.

It took a while, but by midnight the girls had finally finished the invitations, and Reid smiled and thanked them. Sarah and Kate left and Hailey stayed to help the boys clean up. She let out a loud yawn and covered her mouth.

"God, sorry…" She laughed. "I didn't realize how tired I was…"

"It's cool, so we should meet up after school and go get the tuxes, right?" Reid asked.

"Yeah," She nodded.

"You know there is this dress shop right next door, we could stop by and get you girls your dresses…" Tyler pointed out.

"I've got to talk to my mom first to see if she'll up my spending money for next week before I can buy a dress…" Hailey stated holding her things against her chest. "But I guess it won't hurt to look…"

"Well you can ride with us in the morning…" Tyler stated. "That way we can all just ride together afterwards…"

"Ok," Hailey agreed with a smile, "Goodnight…"

The next afternoon they went and got the guys measured for their tuxes, and paid for. They then took the girls next door and had them try on their dresses. Caleb and Pogue both paid for their girlfriends, and Hailey picked out the dress she wanted. She asked for them to hold it for her and she would come back the Friday before the party and get the dress.

The girls were looking in the jewelry department and the guys rolled their eyes. They gushed over certain pieces and Hailey found a necklace that she loved. Tyler took notice and smiled a little bit as she pointed it out to Sarah and Kate.

After securing the dresses the girls followed Caleb, Pogue, Reid and Tyler out of the store.

"Hey, I forgot my coat inside; I'll be out in a second…" Reid stated glancing at Tyler and nodding his head back in to the dress shop.

Tyler unlocked the SUV as everyone else jumped in, "Hurry up Reid…" Caleb stated his deep voice vibrating the black leather seats of the Hummer.

Tyler followed him inside and looked at Reid, "What are you doing?"

"You want to get back with Hailey, right?" Reid asked.

"Yeah," Tyler stated uncomfortably. "What does this have to do with your coat?"

"Nothing, look…" Reid smirked. "We'll split the coast of her dress, and you can give it to her the night before, and ask her to come to my party as your date…"

"Why are you doing this?" Tyler asked leaning against the counter.

"Because you're miserable, Hails is miserable and you're starting to make me miserable…" He pointed out telling the owner to get the dress that Hailey picked out. "I want to fix it…" He stated with a small smile.

Tyler nodded his head and glanced over at the jewelry case and as Reid was paying for his half of the dress, asked the owner to take out the necklace that Hailey had been looking at.

"Add this to my half of the dress," Tyler pointed out.

"See… I'm good…" Reid grinned picking up his coat off of the counter.

"Remind me why you don't have a girlfriend again?" Tyler asked as they left the store.

"You stole her, remember?" Reid stated lifting an eyebrow and nodding to the Black Hummer.

"Oh no, I did not steal Hailey…" Tyler shook his head. "You did that on your own…"

"I'm just messin' with you…" Reid grinned and looked over at Tyler seriously. "One word, Grace"

Tyler gave his best friend a sympathetic nod and got in to the driver's side of the Hummer, Reid climbing in to the passenger's seat.

"Took you long enough, god…" Caleb muttered.

"Sorry, there was this hottie, who was all over me…" Reid smirked.

"You're hopeless…" Hailey rolled her eyes.

Tyler smirked and shifted the car in to drive as he drove back to Spencer Academy. The group dispersed and that night was the first night that Hailey didn't cry herself to sleep. She woke up the next day feeling ten times better than she had over the last couple of weeks.

Hailey got up and showered before ten o'clock, and was dressed by the time a knock came at the door. She smiled happily as she opened the door, only to find that it wasn't Tyler. Instead, the person on the other side of the door was Aaron.

"Have you not gotten the hint, Aaron?" She asked him, pursing her lips together. "I don't want anything to do with you anymore, you ruined my life…"

"On the contrary, love… you ruined your own life…" Aaron stated coming in to her room uninvited.

"You seriously need to leave…" Hailey stated in a warning tone.

"Is your little boyfriend going to come and beat me up?" Aaron rolled his eyes. "Pathetic really, he's so desperate and can't even get another girlfriend, so he actually takes you back after you screwed him over…"

"Aaron you need to leave, now…" Hailey stated seeing a familiar face show up at the door.

"Why should I leave? The parties just getting started," Aaron asked grabbing Hailey towards him.

"Aaron, let go of me…" Hailey tried to pull her arms out of his grasp.

"Oh c'mon Hailey… we can get things back to the way they were…" Aaron suggested as he pushed her towards the bed.

"That's enough Aaron," Tyler stepped in to the room. "You should leave before things get ugly…"

"Oh I'm shaking in my boots baby boy…" Aaron growled.

"You should be," Tyler stated grabbing Aaron by the shirt, pulling his fist back and coming in to contact with the brunette's jaw.

Aaron flew back in to Hailey's dresser, knocking all of the contents off of it. Hailey let out a loud scream as Aaron's hand sliced open and blood began to trickle down. Aaron grabbed on to Tyler and shoved him in to the wall, pulling his fist back and hitting Tyler in the mouth.

Tyler coughed and Aaron pulled back again when something jumped on to his back. Hailey grabbed Aaron's arms and pulled him back, "Stop it now…" She cried.

"Hails that was not a good idea…" Aaron stated flinging her back on to her bed as Tyler took the chance to hit Aaron in the gut and kick him towards the door.

"Tyler, be careful…" She stated pulling herself to her knees and watched as Aaron composed himself to hit Tyler one more time in the mouth, as Tyler sucker punched Aaron one last time getting the brunette out of the room before slamming the door shut and locking it.

Tyler turned around and rested against the door, breathing heavily. He used the back of his hand to wipe the excess blood from his lip and Hailey was to her feet in a second.

"Oh my god, Tyler…" She grabbed his face in her hand, running her thumb over his busted lip.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"I'm fine, are _you_ ok?" Hailey asked inspecting his face.

"He only got two good licks in…" Tyler gave her a lopsided smirk.

"God…" She whispered sitting him down on her bed. "I've got some alcohol, we should probably clean it out, just incase…"

Tyler didn't say anything as Hailey walked in to her half bathroom and grabbed a brown bottle from under the sink. She grabbed a handful of cotton balls and walked back over to Tyler. She sat down next to him and made him turn to face her.

Dabbing the cotton ball to the top of the alcohol bottle she flipped it over and got the cotton ball wet. She moved closer, bringing the cotton ball closer to Tyler's face, she could see the early reaction to the alcohol appear on his face and smirked.

"Don't be a baby…" She whispered and blotted the cotton ball carefully on his open wound. Tyler's face twisted in pain, and she blew on it lightly, easing the burn of the alcohol.

Tyler looked down at her she would dab, and then her pink lips would purse together and she would blow softly on to his battle wound. He tried to control his inner animal, his wants were outweighing his beliefs, at the moment.

He wanted to grab her, kiss her and do unmentionable things to her.

The feeling of her hot breath on his face, easing the pain of the alcohol was making him light headed, as certain parts of his body ached for her. Tyler leaned forward, pulling her hands away from his face with his own. He wanted to kiss her again; he wanted to be in her arms again.

Hailey felt her entire body go numb at his touch, she looked up to see that beautiful face coming closer and closer to hers. She remembered what he said, and even though she wanted nothing more than to kiss him and have animalistic sex with him, she knew what he had said was true.

They had to rebuild their relationship, it wouldn't be right to either of them if they rushed things. She moved back a bit and pulled her hands out of his grasp, taking the pink and red cotton balls in one hand and the alcohol in the other.

"Hailey," Tyler's eyes were slowly opening, feeling her weight leave the bed.

"I have a few of your shirts in the bottom drawer; you might need to change… Aaron's blood is all over that one…" She reported in a melancholy tone.

Tyler watched her walk in to the bathroom, throw the cotton balls away and put the alcohol back. He cleared his throat and opened the bottom drawer, sure enough there was a nice assortment of shirts and hoodies that he had left, or that she had borrowed from him.

He took out a white crisp t-shirt and a stark black hoodie and laid them out on the bed. He turned and pulled his graphic tee over his head revealing his nicely toned body. Hailey stopped walking and stared at him.

It had been awhile since she had seen that excellent, breathtaking physique and the sight of him brought tingles to her body. She swallowed hard and forced a smile.

"I'll soak this in the sink, hopefully it won't stain…" She stated taking the shirt from him.

Tyler pulled on his white t-shirt and his hoodie as she went back in to the bathroom. Hailey filled the sink up and came back with her purse.

"Well, not that our morning has been ruined, brunch?" She asked opening the door.

"I wouldn't say it was ruined, just… interrupted…"

Hailey smiled as the two walked out of the dorm together, and to Hailey's SUV. They spent the entire afternoon together, and to Hailey it felt as though nothing had changed; Tyler made her feel completely comfortable and no awkward situations.

And they didn't have any more interruptions, which to Hailey was a blessing.

* * *

**I'm not foreseeing many more chapters for this story, because I know where I'm leaving off and having the sequel pick up. Because this story is mostly about Hailey/Aaron/Tyler and I want to keep it that way; the sequel will be more set on Hailey/Tyler/Chase and the rest of the Sons... so please... don't press the blue button ;)**


	22. Masquerade

**The response on this story has been incredible! I really appreciate all the support on this... woohoo... you guys rock.**

**Well, I got a request to provide pictures of the girls dresses for the Masquerade. I have done so, to give you a general idea of what the dresses look like. The links are in my profile under the story name. **

* * *

**Chapter 22- Masquerade**

The next week of planning, distributing of the invitations and the hype seemed to fly by for Hailey, Tyler and Reid. Sarah had convinced Kate in to helping them, and the three girls reconnected on a new level.

To Hailey things felt like they were finally getting back to the way they were before Tyler and everyone found out about the bet. She had to laugh thinking about the look on Reid, Caleb and Pogue's face when they saw Tyler's lip, and then the look on their faces when they saw Aaron's black eye and nearly broken nose.

Reid had congratulated Tyler on no longer being a 'pussy' as he called it, Pogue didn't say much, just a simple smirk and a head nod of acknowledgment, at least in front of Hailey, and Caleb gave him the authoritative, fatherly expression.

It was the night before Reid's party and Hailey was on her way to the dress shop after leaving Reid's house. She had finished the last of the decorations and was happy to see that it really looked as if they were going to have a Medieval Masquerade Ball.

She drove in to town stopping at the Starbucks to pick up a Carmel Macchiato; she was paying for her drink when a hand jutted out in front of her thrusting a card at the girl behind the counter. Hailey's eyebrows knitted together in confusion until she turned and saw the very handsome guy from earlier that week.

"Fancy seeing you here…" He smiled nodding to the cashier as she handed him back his card.

Hailey smiled and looked down at the warm cup in her hands, "Chase, hey…"

"So, what are you doing in town on a Thursday Night?" He asked.

"A friend of mine's birthday party is tomorrow, and I've got to pick up my dress…" She stated walking away from the counter with the older boy.

"I see," Chase gave her a small smirk. "So, Hailey, a beautiful girl like you can't be single, huh?" He asked carefully.

Hailey blushed and stood by the door leaning against the tall table, "It's complicated actually…" She looked down at her feet.

"How so?" Chase asked with a small grin adorning his lips.

"My ex and I are… kind of trying to work things out…" She stated, looking back up at him, her eyebrows knitted together. "I think,"

"You think?" Chase asked trying to hold back a laugh.

"Like I said, it's complicated…" She shook her head. "I didn't something really stupid, and really… wrong… and we've been spending some time together, and working through it…" Hailey rambled. She stopped talking and looked at Chase. "Sorry, rambling… I know…" She pursed her lips together.

"That's too bad though," Chase stated.

"How so?" Hailey took a sip of her drink.

"Too bad for me…" He pointed to himself and took a drink of his coffee, giving her a wink before he disappeared out of the café.

Hailey watched him disappear in to a crowd of people and shook her head. There was something about Chase that drew her to him, he had a little bit of mystery about him, but she wasn't going to let anything come between her and her feelings for Tyler.

She felt that she was meant for him and him only.

She felt the vibrating in her pocket and pulled out her phone, she looked at the name flashing on the screen and smiled.

"Hey Ty," She answered.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked

"Just about to go pick up my dress, what are you doing?" She asked him.

"Sitting a Nicky's with Reid…." She heard him say.

"That's cool, I just finished decorating for the party… Have I mentioned how huge his house is?" She asked looking through her purse to find her chap stick.

"Only about a hundred times since we started decorating and setting up for the party," Tyler grinned on the other line.

"Well it's like two of my parent's houses…" She remarked. "It's big…"

"I know," Tyler answered holding back his laughter. "Call me when you leave the dress shop, ok?"

"Ok, I'll talk to you later…"

Hailey walked out of the Starbucks and up the small shopping area to the dress store where she had picked out her dress. She walked in to the store and it seemed to be a bit darker inside than it had the last time the group had been in there.

She walked further towards the back where the cashier was and didn't see anyone. She only saw a box; a rather large box sitting on top of the counter.

Curiously, she walked closer to it, creeping up on the white box. She looked down and on the box was her name, written in perfect calligraphy. A small smile appeared on her lips as she pulled open the box and looked in to see a card with her name written on it, the same perfect calligraphy, and the dress she had picked out.

Hailey's breath was caught in her throat as she pulled out the card. She stared on the inside and immediately recognized Tyler's handwriting. She read through the card, and couldn't help but smile, her heart racing theatrically.

In more words than necessary he asked her to be his date at the Masquerade. She was told to meet him dressed in the gown that she had chosen at the top stairs of the Garwin Manor. She pulled the dress out of the box as the card told her to do and found a small box at the bottom.

A red velvet box.

She hung the dress over her arm and pulled the box in to her grasp. She opened it and felt her eyes immediately sting with happiness. The necklace that she had looked at just days ago was staring back at her.

She looked up to see the store owner smiling back at her and helping her place the dress back in the box and giving her a bag to carry the large box home in. Hailey walked to her car on cloud nine. She was in complete shock.

She drove the entire way back to Spencer, and didn't know when or how she got there; it seemed like a miracle that she made it home in one piece. She was walking up the steps when her pocket vibrated she pulled her phone out and answered the call immediately.

"I thought I told you to call me when you left the shop?" His voice was coming from right behind her.

She turned around and saw him walking up towards her, hands stuffed in his pocket, hair messily hanging down in his face, and a boyish grin on his face. Hailey couldn't resist the urge to smile. She shut her phone and watched him glide up the stairs expertly.

"You are amazing…" She whispered as he got closer.

"I can't take all the credit…" Tyler stated looking down at her. "It was originally Reid's idea, but I gave it a little finesse…"

Hailey grinned up at him and smiled, "You're still amazing…"

Tyler felt a small blush creep up on his cheeks, "Meet me at the top of the staircase at 9 o'clock…"

"I'll be there," She stated as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her temple before walking in to the school and disappearing. Hailey sighed heavily and looked up at the sky, "I don't deserve this," She whispered up to the heavens. "But thank you…"

Hailey was so excited for Friday to come. Not only would this prove her amazing party planning skills, but she was going to be Tyler's date and this meant more to her than she even knew was possible.

She was so busy Friday tying up the last few loose ends with the DJ, catering, and all of the last minutes details that she didn't even notice that Reid hadn't made it to school that day, until she walked in to the cafeteria to see their table was missing a person.

"Where's Reid?" She asked walking up to the table that she still didn't feel a hundred percent comfortable sitting at.

"He's… uh…" Caleb started to say.

"Playing hookie… you know Reid… it's his birthday… he thinks he's better than God right now…" Tyler answered with a small smile, picking up for Caleb.

The truth was Reid's ascension was early this morning, and the blonde boy was completely exhausted from receiving his fully matured powers. He stayed in his dorm room sleeping, trying to rest up for his party later that night.

"The girls tell us that this party is going to be amazing…" Caleb stated changing the subject.

"I hope so, I really worked hard on making it fabulous… not just for Mr. Cocky-and-Arrogant, but for anyone who was invited." She gave him a once over and smiled.

"Well I can't wait… I love any reason to party…" Pogue interrupted and gave her a grin. "I'm sure it'll be great…"

_He speaks!_ Hailey thought excitedly. Pogue hadn't said much to her since everything between her and Tyler and Aaron took place. Though, Pogue was a man of few words, at least around her anyway.

"Thanks, I sure hope so…" She reiterated. "I'm gonna go get something to eat, I'll see you later…" She tossed them a simple wave and got in to line.

The rest of the day seemed to soar by for her and she found herself getting ready. She had found the perfect mask the Sunday before the party, and was excited to get all dressed up for the ball.

Sarah had forced her to hand over the reigns for the last few things to the guys to finish up, since this was their best friend's birthday party, so that they would have an adequate amount of time to get ready.

The three girls had found a salon in town that would take all three of them and do their make up. The girls met up at Kate and Sarah's dorms, their dresses hanging up along with all of their accessories.

Hailey drove them to the salon and within the next two hours the three were ready to get dressed and get to the party. The party formally started at eight and it was now seven. The three of them would be "escorting" the birthday boy in to his own party.

He had arranged for a limo to pick them all up at the dorms and bring them to his house, where they would enter through the grand hall, together.

Sarah's dress was a very feminine gold color, with a gold bodice and cascading ruffles and was a bit snug around the top and middle, as it slowly got looser towards the bottom. Her mask was a glass and gold mask accented by the gold glitter around her eyes and cheeks.

Kate's was a deep purple, with a corset like style, and a ball gown hoop skirt. She wore a dark black and purple mask that was a classy resemblance to a Mardi Gras mask. The purple was played off by her eye shadow, and gold jewelry.

Hailey's dress was a black bodice top that laced up the back with a modest sized skirt that clung to her hips and fell down with a black lace over top of it. Her mask was a black and white mask that had an almost matching black piece of lace that covered part of her face. Sarah had helped her put on the necklace Tyler had gotten for her and the three girls were ready to go.

They made it down to exiting the dormitory without forgetting a thing. The black limo pulled around as the girls waited patiently for Reid. He emerged from behind them looking debonair. His all black outfit screamed for attention, his white tie and platinum tie clip adding to the effect. His mask fit him perfectly; it was mischievous looking, among other things.

"My ladies…" He greeted them with a bow and a fake British accent.

The girls laughed and they piled in to the luxurious limo that awaited them. They chatted briefly on the way there but prepared for their entrance. Reid stood in the middle his arms linked with Hailey and Sarah, as Kate linked her arm with Sarah's.

Reid walked in to the open double doors and the music was turned down and the party goers looked to the doors to see Reid walk in with his three lovely escorts. The whole room took in a breath as he walked in down the red velvet carpet that was sprinkled with tasteful gold confetti.

Reid glanced over at Hailey and gave her a meaningful nod; she had done a spectacular job. The place looked absolutely perfect. He saw two of his best friend's standing to the side smirking at him from behind their masks. Reid dropped Hailey's arm and she stood in her spot as Reid walked Sarah and Kate over to Pogue and Caleb.

He gave a courteous bow and reclaimed Hailey's arm, he held his hand up to the DJ and the DJ started spinning the next record, and the party continued as Reid walked Hailey further in to the house.

"You did an amazing job…" Reid stated as they walked towards the center of the floor.

"I just wanted everything to be perfect…" She smiled looking around.

"Well everything will be perfect once you get that ass of yours up those stairs…" Reid stated nodding his head in the direction of the grand staircase.

"Wish me luck," She whispered as Reid walked her to the bottom of the stairs and placed a kiss on her cheek.

She glanced over his shoulder as he lingered back in to the crowd being sure to grab a glass of champagne as they were passed around. She held up her skirt as she made her way up the steps, her eyes were concentrated on her feet, hoping that she wouldn't slip and fall. She glanced over at the large clock, it was almost nine o'clock.

She reached the final step and glanced around the party looking for a sign of Tyler anywhere. She bit her bottom lip, probably ruining her lipstick as she did so, but not really caring. She bounced on the balls of her feet as the clock his 9:03 PM, and still no sign of Tyler Simms.

"Looking for me?" His deep, gentle voice came in her left ear; his hot breath on her bare shoulders.

Hailey turned around and stared up at Tyler. Those piercing blue eyes stared back at her from behind a mask that was very similar to Phantom of the Opera. She smiled and he smiled back, "I was…" She answered back.

"Well look no more," He smiled at her.

"Thank you," She whispered to him, they were inches apart and Tyler could barely hear her words over the thumping of the intense music.

"For what?" He asked pulling her in to his arms.

"For this, for everything…" She stated, looking up in to his forgiving eyes.

"I can't fight what my heart is telling me," Tyler stated as he pulled her in for a meaningful kiss.

Hailey stared up at him as she pulled away slightly, she couldn't help but smile, "You are so amazing…" She whispered her tone full of happiness.

"I don't care about what happened in the past…" Tyler's hands were grabbing her hips firmly. "All I care about is you," He stated shaking his head.

Hailey didn't know what else she could say to this; she grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him as hard as she could. She felt complete as he pulled her against his body. Their masks clashing a bit, but neither of them cared.

The only thing that tore them out of their intense kiss was some hooting and hollering coming from the bottom of the stairs. Tyler blushed and Hailey tried to hide her face as Reid, Sarah, Caleb, Pogue and Kate cheered them on at the bottom of the stairs.

"Come join the party…" Reid called up to them.

Tyler lifted his chin to his best friend and Hailey smiled. Tyler grabbed Hailey's hand in his and interlaced his fingers with hers; he escorted her down the tricky staircase and was greeted with two flutes of champagne.

"Let's go…" Sarah grabbed Hailey's hand and pulled her out on to the dance floor.

After what seemed like hours of dancing Hailey was forced on stage to say Happy Birthday to Reid, as were all of his close friends. She was the last one and she smiled down at her group of friends.

"Well, birthday boy…" She laughed in to the microphone. "We've been through hell and back, but we came out alright, huh?" She asked. Reid nodded his head in agreement as Tyler rolled his eyes. Hailey had downed one too many flutes of champagne. She held up the glass she was holding at the moment, "To best friends, boyfriends, and the like…" She held up her flute and took a sip of the champagne. "Happy birthday, Reid…"

Everyone cheered and gulped down their glass.

"Now, it's time for the cake…" She stated as the doors to the kitchen flew open.

"Cake?" Reid asked as she walked off the stage handing the microphone back to the DJ. She grinned and Tyler wrapped his arm around her middle.

"What kind of birthday would it be without a cake?" She asked.

The large wedding like birthday cake was placed on a large table lined with flutes of champagne and a cutting knife, "Go on…" Sarah pushed Reid towards the table.

They all sang Reid 'Happy Birthday' he cut the cake and they put the cake on serving trays as the waiters and waitresses brought them around. The group got back to dancing when Hailey held a finger to Tyler.

"I'll be back…" She grinned stepping away and back to the champagne table.

Hailey picked up a two more glasses of champagne and was ready to head back to her date when someone stood in her way. She tried to see who it was but their mask covered the majority of their face.

"Hello Hailey," A familiar voice said, a bit of arrogance behind his tone.

Hailey's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked deeper in to the mask, "Chase?"

"Good eyes, darling…" Chase gave her a wicked little grin.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him quietly trying to make sure she didn't draw any attention to herself or the random party guest. "I don't remember your name on the list of invites…" She stated.

"I was a last minute invite… Reid and I go way back…" Chase smiled.

"Oh, well how are you liking it so far?" She asked.

"_Killer_ party…" He stated without even blinking.

"Didn't do to bad, did I?" She asked taking a nervous sip of her drink.

She had never felt nervous around Chase before, but in this atmosphere in her good friend's house, she felt very uneasy around him.

Chase brushed a curl out of her face and smiled at her, "So who's the lucky guy?" His hand trailed down to the diamond necklace around her neck.

Hailey looked over his shoulder and saw Tyler hamming it up with Reid on the dance floor, "Tyler… Reid's best friend…"

Chase's face looked a bit amused with the news and sickeningly sweet smile adorned his lips, "Well, didn't know baby boy had it in him to get such a lovely young lady…" He let his finger linger up to her chin and made her look up at him. "Do let them know I said hello…"

He turned to leave, and Hailey caught him by the arm, "Why don't you come over and say hi?" She asked carefully.

"Not such a good idea," Chase stated before disappearing in to a crowd of people.

Hailey felt stumped after this and watched as the sea of people made him literally disappear. She shook her head and took a sip of her champagne and found her way back to Tyler.

Tyler wrapped his arms around her middle and brought her in to a kiss, she smiled against his lips and pulled away, "What took you so long?" He asked taking the second glass in her hand.

Hailey ignored his question and gulped down the rest of her drink. She pulled him to her lips again and Tyler forgot all about his previous question.

The night dwindled in to the early morning and the group of seven shooed the remainder of the party out of the house so that they could get some sleep. Reid instructed them all to take a guest room as he took his old room.

The last thing Hailey remembered was walking in to the dark room, and that was it. She woke up the next morning with a pair of strong arms wrapped around her middle. She rested back against a bare chest and took in the scent of his familiar cologne.

It felt great to be back in his arms, she turned to face him, to see that he was awake, smiling at her. She grinned pressing her lips to his.

"How long have you been awake?" She asked him.

"Awhile," He answered.

"Why didn't you get up?" She continued her small interrogation.

Tyler didn't say anything for a moment as he pulled her closer to him, letting his lips linger by her ear, "I was enjoying having you in my arms again..."

Her green eyes lit up placing a kiss on his lips, "I want to stay like this forever…" She whispered laying her head against his chest.

"If I have things the way I want them, we will…" Tyler whispered kissing the top of her head.

* * *

**As per usual, DON'T REVIEW!!! ;) Man, I love reverse psychology, now I know why my mother used to use it on me all the time!**

* * *


	23. Tension

**I thought I posted this chapter up already, but I suppose not. Anywho... we're getting down to the end here... I think it'll only be two more chapters, and then I will get started on the sequel. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 23 – Tension**

The weekend was gone and over with before Hailey knew it. She had offered to help Reid clean his house, but the blonde strictly refused. He told her that the guys were coming over and they were making a day out of it.

She didn't twice about it until she went over with Tyler after school on Monday and the house was absolutely spotless. She looked around confused as Tyler held the door open for her.

"Hails?" Tyler waved a hand in front of her face. "Earth to Hailey…" He tried to get her attention.

She shook her head and looked over at Tyler, "You did all of this yesterday?" Hailey asked looking over and Tyler, her attention cutting to the blonde who was walking out of the kitchen.

"With four people it's easy to clean up quick…" Reid stated before Tyler could even open his mouth.

Hailey raised an eyebrow and glanced up at Tyler, "Impressive…" She smirked walking in to the house. "So what's up?"

"I just thought that we'd take you out for coffee tonight," Reid smirked grabbing his coat.

"Oh, and why is that?" Hailey asked curiously.

"Just feel like being extra nice…" Reid grinned as Tyler rolled his eyes.

"For some reason I don't believe you…" She stated shaking her head.

Reid grinned as he stole the keys to Tyler's Hummer and the two younger kids got in the backseat. Reid smiled over at Tyler who simply shrugged his shoulders and put his arm around Hailey's shoulders.

"You're up to something Garwin…" Hailey decided as they arrived at the Starbucks in town.

"Ok, and if I am?" Reid asked.

"I want to know what it is, so I can tell you no… now…" Hailey grinned as the three of them walked inside.

"Ok, so I was talking to my mother, and she's going to be back in town in a week…" He rolled his eyes. "My mother is one of those moms that has her hand in everything with the Upper Class…" He rolled his pale blue eyes ordering the three coffees.

"And?" Hailey asked as Tyler tried to hide his laughter.

"She's having this huge ball type thing for all the debutants and yadda yadda…" Reid continued.

"Get to the point Blondie…" Hailey stated waiting for the punch line.

"And we were talking, and I told her that I wasn't going to go because I felt like they were to precarious and I didn't want to be a part of it…"

"Reid…"

"She begged me, Hailey, begged… my mother doesn't beg for anything…" Reid stated biting his bottom lip.

"Reid Garwin, get to the point…" She stated as the three of them sat down.

"I kind of told her yes, and when she asked if I wanted her to set me up I said no because I had a date…" He looked up at her with baby blue puppy dog eyes.

Hailey's eyes widened with realization, she looked at Tyler and he looked over at the blonde. Reid gave her his look and she shook her head.

"I had to beg and plead for Tyler to even let me ask you…" Reid stated.

"You could have gotten any number of girls at Spencer to do it, why me?" Hailey asked.

"That's what I asked…" Tyler stated glaring at his friend for a moment.

"Besides you, Sara and Kate are the only decent girls _at_ Spencer, besides my reputation with a good percent of the girls there isn't so great…" The blonde looked at her and she sighed. "Please, Hailey, will you do me this one last favor?"

"I'm sure it won't be the last…but ok…" She sighed and nodded her head taking a sip of her coffee.

Reid grinned," Thanks babe…" He took a drink of his coffee and Hailey snapped her fingers.

"That reminds me…" She stated. "Chase wanted me to tell you guys that he said Hi…" She smiled looking at the two.

Tyler's eyes bugged out of his head, as Reid spewed his coffee all over the table and all over Hailey. Hailey scooted her chair back and stared at Reid like he had lost his mind. Tyler and Reid both grabbed their napkins and started to help clean up the mess.

"Did you say Chase?" Tyler asked carefully dabbing her face.

"Yeah, what's wrong with Chase?" Hailey asked standing up and brushing off her clothes.

"Um, n-nothing… just haven't heard that name in awhile…" Reid stated cleaning up the mess on the table. "I'm sorry; you just caught me off guard…"

"It's ok…" Hailey laughed taking a seat.

"How… how do you know Chase?" Tyler asked being very, very careful with his tone.

"I don't really know him per se, but he came up to me a few weeks ago here, and then again the night before Reid's party…" She gave them both a strange look. "He was at your party Friday; he said you invited him…"

"I did?" Reid asked looking at Tyler; he faked a light bulb and smiled. "That's right, I did…" Reid stated. "It was just a text message though. I uh- didn't want him to feel like I left him out…"

Tyler coughed uncomfortably and looked at Hailey, "I asked him to come say hi to you on Friday, but he said it would be a good idea, any reason why?"

"Remember the fight Caleb got in to with a _friend_ of ours?" Reid asked finally speaking up again. Hailey's eyes grew wide and she nodded. "That was Chase…"

"I remember he said that the first night I met him… he asked me if I went to Spencer, and I said yeah… and he said that he used to go there but got expelled for getting in a fight…" Hailey snapped her fingers. "I don't know why I didn't think about it earlier…" She shook her head.

"Yeah," Reid looked at Tyler raising an eyebrow.

Tyler reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone, "I've got to make a call; I'll be right back…"

Tyler got out of his seat and walked outside. He dialed a familiar number and waited for the person to answer.

"Ty, I'm a little busy…" Caleb stated sitting up in his bed. The white sheet hanging low on his waist.

"Why did you even answer the phone?" Sarah whined next to him, letting her fingers trail over his well defined chest.

"Caleb, I'm sorry… but this is important…" Tyler stated pacing in front of the coffee shop.

"It had better be…"

"It's about Chase…" Tyler whispered in to the receiver.

"Excuse me," Caleb nearly fell out of his bed.

"Chase, he introduced himself to Hailey…" Tyler stated leaning against the brick wall. "He was at Reid's party on Friday…"

"You're shittin' me…" Caleb stated glancing over at Sarah; he instinctively pulled her closer to him with his free arm.

"No, man… I wish I was…" He sighed. "What are we going to do?"

"Call Pogue and Reid and meet me at the Colony house in twenty minutes…" Caleb muttered throwing the covers off of his body. He hung up the phone and Sarah looked up at him.

"He's back, isn't he?" Sarah asked.

Caleb avoided eye contact and stood with his hand on his hip and his cell phone pressed against his chin. He didn't say anything he just simply nodded his head. Sarah's large blue eyes turned glassy at the realization.

"Hailey," Tyler came back inside. "I'm going to go drop you off at the dorms, Reid and I have to go meet up with Caleb…"

"Why?" Hailey asked concerned. "Is he ok?"

"He's ok… he just had one of his migraines, and Pogue is…" Tyler trailed off trying to find a good excuse. "He's at the shop waiting for ah- his bike to get finished up…"

Hailey frowned and nodded her head, "Ok, well we'd better go…" She stated getting up and looking over at Reid who was giving Tyler a look.

They walked out to Tyler's Hummer and the ride back to the dorms was silent. Hailey climbed out of the truck as Tyler came around to her door. He took her face in his hands and looked down at her.

"I'm sorry for rushing out on you, but…"

"It's ok… I understand…" She smiled up at him. "Just call me later, ok?" She asked.

"I will," He kissed her softly and she looked up at him with a small smile.

"Goodnight Ty…" She whispered.

Tyler felt those three little words tickle his tongue but he decided against using them. He nodded his head and gave her one last peck before climbing back in to the truck, Reid had climbed in to the driver's seat, and Tyler was stuck as the passenger.

Reid waved to Hailey as he pulled away and she watched the SUV pull away and sighed. She wasn't sure what was going on with the Sons, but she didn't know if he was telling her the truth or not. She wanted to believe them, but something itched at the back of her mind that something wasn't right.

The next day at school Hailey saw Caleb walking in with Sarah looking a bit melancholy. The usually bubbly blonde had never looked so down. Hailey's brow furrowed, walking over to them she noticed that Pogue and Kate who were walking from a completely different direction were looking to be in the same boat.

"Hey Caleb, how are you?" She asked giving him a hopeful smile.

Caleb looked at her for a moment, and tried to play off his confused look, "Oh, I'm ok… just these damn migraines, you know?" He gave her an uneasy laugh.

"Yeah, well I'm glad you're doing ok…" She smiled and looked at Sarah. "Sarah, are you alright?" She asked.

Sarah looked up at her with sad blue eyes and forced a smile, "Sorry, just been in a bit of a rut this morning…" The blonde answered.

Hailey looked from one to the other and nodded holding her books to her chest. She gave them both a meek smile before heading towards her locker. She glanced back and saw the two couples meet up, there moods not shifting at all.

Hailey shook her head and noticed Tyler leaning against her locker, what appeared to be a forced smile adorning his face. Now she knew something was up, Tyler never forced smiles.

"What's going on?" Hailey asked looking at Tyler who stepped aside so she could get in to her locker.

"What are you talking about?" Tyler asked confused.

"Everyone is so melancholy…Sarah – _SARAH_ of all people is not smiling… at all…" She stated looking at Tyler.

"Everyone's just concerned about Caleb, he hasn't had these headache's in awhile so … we're all just kind of on edge about what's causing them…" Tyler covered.

"But he said he was ok…" Hailey stated shaking her head.

"He's trying to be Mr. Tough Guy… he does that…" Tyler shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry if we're all a bit tense but he thought he was rid of them a about a month or two ago, and now they're back again… and what appears to be in full force…"

Hailey looked up at him after switching out her books and looked him in the eye, she chose to believe him. But a small part of her wanted to call him a liar, but she had to trust him, he was after all… her boyfriend.

Well, she guessed he was her boyfriend, they hadn't technically stated what their status was. They were seeing each other, and they did all the normal things that couples did, but he hadn't called her his girlfriend, and she didn't dare say it first.

"Ty," She looked up at him as he took her books and her hand in his.

"What's up Hails?" He asked.

"What are we?" She asked looking up at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked.

"I mean our status… in our relationship…" She asked.

"Like?" Tyler raised an eyebrow at her.

"Last time you asked me to be your girlfriend; this time… it just kind of happened…" She explained. "So am I your girlfriend, or…"

Tyler pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head, "What else would you be babe?" He asked her cutely.

Hailey shrugged, but for some reason felt relived. She gave him a peck on the cheek and walked in to first period together.

The group was sitting at lunch, when Caleb grunted and made a disturbing sound as he stood up quickly, Hailey's eyes grew as she dropped her fork and watched as everyone around them started to panic silently. Sarah's eyes said it all, she looked almost terrified.

"Caleb, are you ok?" Reid asked looking at his friend.

"Ah," Caleb sucked in a breath and held the heels of his palms against his eyes as sweat began to appear on his brow.

"We should get him in an empty classroom, c'mon…"

Just as Pogue said this, the cafeteria doors burst open and a massive gust of wind sent papers, books, and everything loose in to the cafeteria. The gust was strong enough to knock someone over.

Hailey grabbed on to the table as Tyler's head snapped up looking at Reid, Caleb and then Pogue. All the boys looked panicked, as Kate let out a loud yell and Sarah clutched on to Caleb's arm instinctively.

"That was odd…" Hailey stated loudly as the gust died down.

"Yeah," Tyler nodded looking at Caleb who was calming down, though pain was apparent on his face.

"I've got to go to the library and do some research…" Sarah stated suddenly getting up from her seat. "Caleb will you come with me?" She asked.

Caleb didn't say anything he followed his girlfriend out of the cafeteria and the table went silent. Hailey looked around, Kate looked completely frightened, Pogue looked paranoid, Reid looked irritated and Tyler… Tyler she couldn't read.

No one said another word until the bell rung and Tyler muttered a 'Let's Go' before they got up to leave the cafeteria. They scaled over books, papers and people's belongings as they exited the cafeteria.

Hailey looked up at her boyfriend and bit her bottom lip, something was going on. Something that he wasn't telling her and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. She _had_ to get to the bottom of it.

She could tell that they wanted to say things; each one of them had opened their mouths on one occasion or another to say something, but would stop themselves. If Hailey asked them about it they would simply say that they forgot.

The tension among the group was unexplainable. She had to find out what had everyone all wound up.

* * *

**You know what NOT to do, don't you?  
**


	24. Apologize

**This is a long chapter, but you guys like those right? LOL... anywho... enjoy and I'll try and get the last (hopefully) chapter done within the next few days... :)**

* * *

**Chapter 24 - Apologize**

The next week seemed to go by awkwardly for Hailey. She seemed to be on the outside looking in when it came to her group of friends. She felt like the one person who wasn't in on the "inside joke".

The tension was unbearable sometimes and she found herself pulling away from the group. She didn't like to feel uncomfortable and she felt that way whenever they ate together at lunch, or hung around in the halls. She would make up some excuse to get out of it and hoped that she wasn't hurting her relationship with them in the process.

"Hailey, where are you going?" Sarah asked as the blonde walked in to the cafeteria just as the brunette was walking out.

"Uh, I was going to go to the library and catch up on some homework…" Hailey stated jabbing her thumb in the general direction of the library.

Sarah nodded as Hailey snuck past her and walked towards the library, she was almost there when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer to a lean, warm body. She rested back against the brunette and smiled.

"You're always disappearing at lunch," He muttered in to her ear.

Hailey turned around and looked up in to those familiar dark blue eyes, "Sorry babe, but I got a lot of homework to catch up on… I'll see you after lunch ok?" She asked.

Tyler gave her a slow kiss, not wanting to break away from her. She placed her hands on his chest and gave him a quick peck.

"I'll see you after lunch then…" He rolled his eyes and winked at her.

Hailey smiled and slipped in to the library without being caught by anyone else. Hailey finished up some of her homework but decided to pull out her book of the moment.

The bell rang signifying that lunch was over; Hailey put her book away and walked towards her locker. Just as she was walking out of the library she collided with a body, she fell backwards and her things went all over the place.

She let out a huff and glared up at the person who had knocked her down, seeing the familiar face her lip curled down in a scowl as the lean boy bent down to help her pick up her things. She hurriedly gathered her things and looked up as he held out her book she had been reading to her.

"Hailey," Aaron said her name barely above a whisper as she snatched the book from him.

"Thanks," Hailey muttered before brushing past him.

Aaron grabbed on to her elbow and she glared at him, "Hailey, can we please talk?" He asked.

"I think you've done your share of talking for a while, Aaron…" She stated yanking her arm out of his grasp and disappearing around the corner.

Aaron watched her walk away. He had thrown everything away for his own ego, his pride. He cursed out loud, running a hand through his dark curls. He had been completely miserable since he lost his friendship with Hailey.

He had been stuck dating Kira and she was already driving him mad. She wouldn't shut up about Hailey, and what Hailey was doing; and how Hailey was dating Tyler, and best friends with Reid.

Aaron had seriously thought about strangling the red head, but chose against his better judgment. He walked towards his locker and slowly opened the metal door, on the inside was a picture of him, Brody, Ryan and Hailey. It had been taken over the summer and they had stayed out at Hailey's parents' beach house in Florida for a week.

They had great times together as just friends. He no longer had a girl to go to for advice on relationships, he had Kira. He didn't have anyone to play pool against that didn't suck, like Brody and Ryan. He missed his best friend.

Aaron slammed his locker door shut and came face to face with Kira. She started immediately talking about Hailey and what a bitch she was. Aaron felt his blood boil and he instantly knew what he had to do to get things on the right track.

"Kira," Aaron looked at her, stopping her in mid sentence. The red head looked at him confused and was about to get smart with him about interrupting her when he held up a hand to her. "It's over…" He stated simply.

"What?" Kira's face turned red, her eyes wide and her mouth open.

"We're over…" Aaron stated simply.

"Are you kidding me?" Kira asked scoffing. "This is a sick joke Aaron…"

"It's not a joke, I'm serious…" Aaron stated with a lift of his shoulder to her. "I've decided to turn over a new leaf…" He gave her a sympathetic smile. "I never really cared about you Kira, it was all physical for me…"

With a that Aaron Abbott left Kira Snider looking like a fish out of water.

The day seemed to drag on forever for Aaron, the news of his and Kira's break up spread like wildfire, just as he expected. But every time he tried to talk to Hailey something got in his way.

First, it was Kira. She tried to talk some 'sense' in to Aaron, telling him that she was the best thing he had ever had, and he didn't know what he was missing. Second, was Ryan and Brody, they asked him if he was crazy, and Aaron told them like it was, neither of them dared to argue with Aaron.

Next, was Tyler himself, baby boy had worked up the gall to tell him that he had better stay away from Hailey. Apparently, the youngest Son of Ipswich heard about his break up with Kira, and was a bit worried that Aaron would try and move in on his girl.

And several girls decided that now was the best time to throw themselves at Aaron Abbott, right in front of Hailey who seemed to not even notice, or care about the new rumors that Aaron and Kira were off.

He fought with himself the entire day to get to talk to her, but never found the chance.

Hailey walked in to the familiar cafe and smiled at the barista behind the counter. The young girl took Hailey's order without even bothering to ask her what she wanted and took her card. Hailey signed for her drink and waited patiently as the other barista finished making it.

They called her name and Hailey grabbed her drink and took a seat in the large love seat in the corner of the cafe. She pulled out her book by James Patterson and began reading where she left off in the library that afternoon.

"Fancy seeing you here," A familiar voice came from behind her.

She turned to look behind her and saw his handsome face, "Chase, hey..." she forced a smile.

"How are you doing?" Chase questioned.

"I'm ok, how about you?" Hailey asked him back as he took a seat next to her.

"Alright I suppose," Chase gave her a once over and sighed, "You sure you're ok?"

"Kind of..." She looked up at him with a forced grin.

"So what's up? A pretty girl like you shouldn't have any problems at all," He gave her a charming smile.

Hailey smirked, "We've got more problems..."

Tyler laid across his bed completely worn out, he had started working out with Pogue and Caleb after swim practice. It was getting him in better shape, and getting his mind off of the entire Chase situation. He let out an exhausted sigh when the door to his room swung open and a smirking Reid entered the room.

"What's with the smirk?" Tyler asked as Reid shut the door behind him.

"No reason," The blonde grinned resting back on to his bed with ease.

"Liar," Tyler flipped on to his stomach. "What's up? I haven't seen you smirk like that since you started harassing Hailey..."

"I found someone else to harass, is that such a crime?"

"Maybe, maybe not..." Tyler shrugged rolling back on to his back and staring up at the ceiling. After a short silence between the two friends Tyler glanced over at the blonde, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Ty, you can ask me anything..." Reid gave him a grin.

"It's about Hailey," Tyler stated.

"What about her?' Reid asked.

"I feel like things seem to be drifting us apart again... what do you think?" Tyler asked.

Reid paused for a moment and opened his mouth to speak, "Its this whole Chase situation, we're all bent out of shape about it and Hailey is confused, she doesn't know why we're all tense and up each other's asses..."

"You think so?" Tyler asked.

"I'm pretty sure man, I mean she's got to be uncomfortable, no one is acting like themselves, and we're giving her these stupid excuses as to why and she's probably just frustrated..."

"My god," Tyler shook his head. "It's sick how insightful you are sometimes..."

"What?" Reid asked in a mocking surprised tone. "You didn't think I was a complete idiot, did you?"

Tyler shook his head, "Do you think I should tell her?"

Reid bit his bottom lip, "It would probably make things easier, but she would probably freak out," The blonde turned to his side and looked over at his best friend. "You might want to talk to Caleb and Pogue about it before you let out our secret..."

"You're probably right..." Tyler stated taping his finger to his chin. "I want to tell her that she shouldn't talk to Chase anymore, but I can't think of a way to put it without her asking questions."

"She's going to ask questions, she only thinks the beef is between Chase and Caleb..." Reid negotiated.

"This is so hard..." Tyler muttered. "I love her, and I can't tell her. I have powers, and I can't tell her... Jesus Christ what is wrong with this picture. I should be able to tell her anything..."

"Why can't you tell her you love her?" Reid asked after a short silence fell between the two brothers.

"I don't want it to make things weird between us... and I don't want to be hurt again..." Tyler rubbed his hands over his face.

"You need to tell her that might be what she needs to pull her back in, you think she's drifting away, don't let her..." The blue eyed blonde stated rolling his eyes. "And they say you're the smart one..."

Tyler looked over at his best friend and then back up at the ceiling, he was right. He needed to make things right between them. And he was going to tell her how he felt and hope for the best.

"So you lost your boyfriend, you lost your best friend, and you lost all your other friends over this bet?" Chase asked after listening to Hailey's long spiel.

"Yeah, pretty much..." She sighed. "But Tyler forgave me, and we're back together, but things are so awkward right now..."

"Awkward how?" Chase asked.

"Everyone in the group is all tensed up about Caleb's migraines or something... I think there is more to it than they say, but no one is telling me what's going on..." Hailey shrugged. "Did he ever get those headaches when you went to Spencer?"

Chase smirked and nodded his head slightly, "Yeah, they started when I got to Spencer... from what I remember"

"Hmm," Hailey shrugged her shoulders. "It's just weird; everyone is so uptight right now… I feel completely out of the loop with them…"

"Maybe you should confront them about it…" Chase lifted a shoulder in indifference.

"I don't want to attack them, I just want some answer, and they're supposed to be my friends, right?" Hailey sighed. She glanced over at Chase who was giving her a small knowing smile. She blushed slightly and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm babbling on about something you don't want to hear…"

"Nonsense, we're friends right?" Chase asked with a lopsided grin.

Hailey blushed a deeper red and nodded her head slowly, "I guess we kind of are, aren't we?" She asked.

"I think three conversations makes us friends…" He turned to look at her. Hailey turned to face him and nodded her head.

"I guess so,"

"Well, I should get going," Chase got up and gave her a small pat on her bare knee. "We should have lunch sometime…" He pointed out. Hailey gave him a skeptical look and he gave her a reassuring grin, "As friends of course…"

She smiled, "Sure, I'd like that…"

Chase gave her a wink before getting up and leaving the Starbucks. Hailey rested back in the seat and felt a little relieved that she had someone to talk to about what was going on. She couldn't voice her problems to Tyler because that would make things weird between them.

Hailey thought about him for a minute and smiled.

She could close her eyes and see that genuine smile, his intense blue eyes, and the way his dark brown hair hung down in his face. She smiled just thinking about him, she couldn't possible feel the way she did for him for anyone else.

She loved him. She had loved him for a long time. She smiled feeling a warm feeling in her stomach; she wanted to be with him and no one else. She had to tell him.

Hailey stood up from her seat and gave a polite wave to the baristas before exiting the café. She got in to her car and drove towards the dorms. She was driving down a winding road which wasn't uncommon in Ipswich.

What she wasn't expecting was a car barreling towards her lane. Her eyes grew wide and her foot jammed on the breaks as the car swerved back into its own lane just before hitting her SUV.

Hailey gripped her steering wheel steadily and gasped for air. She watched as the car disappeared around another corner just as violently. She mentally said a small prayer as she gathered her composure.

She glanced around looking for what could have caused the driver to make such a horrifying move around the corner, but nothing. No animals, nothing in the road… absolutely nothing… they must have just been a terribly driver.

"They'll give anyone a license these days…" She mumbled before a honk came from behind her.

She glanced back and saw a fancy Mercedes behind her, laying on their horn. She lifted her hand as a sort of apology and gave a meek smile in her review mirror before stepping on the gas.

What she didn't notice was a familiar smirk standing out in the forest surrounding the lonely roads.

Hailey made it back to the dorms in one piece, which she was thankful for. She headed to her room and found a sticky note with a time and a place, the initials TAS. She smiled those were Tyler's initials.

_The Lobby 8:00_

_TAS_

Hailey glanced down at her watch and smiled it was 7:30 so she had just enough time to change her clothes and look presentable to her boyfriend. She wondered what the occasion was but didn't read too much in to it.

She was used to Tyler being sweet to her for no apparent reason, which was one of the many things she loved about him.

Disrobing, she found a suitable pair of relaxed fitted jeans and a navy blue tank top with white stars scattered around it. She slipped in to her navy blue keds and slipped in a white headband to hold back her sometimes unruly hair.

She glanced at the clock and she had only wasted fifteen minutes, there was no harm in being early. She grabbed her phone and slid it in to her back pocket as she walked down to the Student Lobby.

She walked down and didn't see Tyler any where around, she felt a bit disappointed at first, but then realized that she was fifteen minutes early. She took a seat on one of the large plush couches that accented the large room and curled her knees up to her chest.

A lot of things had happened this year that changed the way Hailey lived her life. At the beginning of the school year she was best friends with Aaron Abbott, along with Brody and Ryan. Now the three of them wouldn't even look her way. She had heard what Aaron had told Brody, Ryan and Kira.

He had told them that while dating Aaron she started to date Tyler, and strung Aaron along. He also went on to tell them apparently that she only came to him when Tyler wouldn't give in to her. After she had heard this she confronted Aaron and he just gave her one of his cocky smiles, but after listening to her bitch finally apologized for his wrong doings.

At the beginning of the year you would have never caught her communicating with any of the Sons of Ipswich, especially not Reid Garwin. But over the last few months Reid had become one of her closest friends and one of her only confidants.

And most importantly, she had met the love of her life. She had lost the love of her life, and then got him back. She smiled at how lucky she was to have him. That was until her short lived memory was interrupted.

"Hails," The voice didn't belong to her boyfriend Tyler; it belonged to her ex-best friend Aaron.

She looked up and then back down, "Aaron…" She stated barely above a whisper.

"Mind if I sit down?" He asked pointing to the couch.

"It's a free country…" She stated dryly.

Aaron took a seat and let out a small sigh, he had just gotten out of the shower she noted. He was in his black track pants with the dark blue and white stripes coming up the side and a white wife beater. His brown curls were all wet and his face was cleanly shaved.

"Hailey, I just wanted to…" Aaron started as Hailey looked over at him cautiously.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I wanted to apologize…" The blue eyed brunette stated solemnly.

"For?" She inquired.

Aaron sighed and looked up at her, "Everything…" He shook his head and turned his lip up in to a scowl. "I should have never forced you to go through with the bet; I shouldn't have made you choose between them and me…" Aaron pursed his lips together and looked Hailey in the eye. "I shouldn't have turned my back on you and told Tyler about the bet…" The boy chewed on his bottom lip nervously and squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm sorry for ruining your life…"

Hailey was shocked. She had never heard Aaron apologize like this before, she could tell he was having a hard time, but before she knew it the words were spilling out of his mouth. She smiled slightly and looked over at him.

"I miss my best friend," Aaron whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

"Aaron…" Hailey looked at him meaningfully. She had missed their Thursday nights together, she missed joking around with him and beating him at pool at Nicky's. She missed her best friend, too.

"I know you're back with Simms, and I can handle that… but I just want to be back in your good graces…" The brunette stated grabbing her hand and holding it tight between his.

Hailey smiled and pulled Aaron in to a tight hug, she wanted to cry, things were finally falling back in to place. She was ecstatic; she had her best friend back, her boyfriend back and a few more friends along with that.

"I broke up with Kira, and told her that I never really cared for her…" Aaron reported with a small smile.

"Oh?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah and…" Aaron glanced around the room. Something stopped him from talking and Hailey looked up to see Tyler standing behind the couch adjacent to them, his hands stuffed in to the pockets of his jeans.

"Tyler, hey babe…" She smiled giving him a genuine smile.

"What's he doing here?" Tyler asked nodding his head to Aaron.

"Hey man, I come in peace…" Aaron held up his hands defensively. "I'll talk to you later, Hails…"

With that Aaron got up and high tailed it out of the lobby, Hailey smiled and looked up at Tyler who didn't seem the least bit pleased.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"What was Aaron doing talking to you?" Tyler asked.

"He came to apologize…" Hailey stated. "He apologized for everything he did and he wanted to make things right between us again…"

"Hailey…" Tyler narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Tyler, he was my best friend for over a year, just like you can forgive Reid and me… I need to be able to forgive him for this…" She whispered as he sat down next to her.

Tyler was quiet for a minute and slowly nodded his head, "I can understand that I suppose…"

"So, what are we doing here?" She asked him with a small smile.

Tyler let a small smile slip on to his face and he pulled her off of the couch. "Come on, I've got something I want to tell you…"

The brunette guided her towards the front doors of the campus and were about to leave when a police officer and a Spencer Security guard came rushing towards them trying to stop them from going further out of the dorms.

"I'm sorry, but you cannot leave the premises…" The officer stated his hand on Tyler's chest.

Tyler looked around and saw four sets of flashing lights, an ambulance and a fire truck. Hailey noticed all of this and tightened her grip on Tyler's hand.

"What's going on?" Hailey managed to get out.

"There was a severe car crash involving a silver Mustang and a red Eclipse…." The Spencer Security guard stated.

"Silver Mustang?" Tyler asked carefully.

"Yes," The Security guard nodded his head.

"Caleb…." Hailey whispered looking up at Tyler.

"Can we see, please that could be one of our friends…" Tyler asked the security guard and officer.

"Sure, just be careful where you step…" The officer nodded.

Tyler grabbed tightly on to Hailey's hand and pulled her down the steps, the crash was right at the entrance of the dorms, which normally wasn't a busy road at all. Hailey's throat tightened at the sight of the accident. The Mustang was in terrible condition and the red Eclipse was completely destroyed.

"That's Caleb's car…" Tyler whispered in horror. "Do you know where the driver is?" He asked the officer.

"The driver has been taken to the Gloucester Hospital…" The officer next to the damaged vehicles stated.

Hailey's heart stopped as she looked at the red Eclipse, she put a hand to her mouth and whispered an 'Oh my god' and Tyler let go over her as the officer looked up.

"Is there something the matter ma'am?" The officer asked.

"That's the car…" She whispered.

"What car?" Tyler asked. "Hailey what's wrong?" He asked.

"That car… that car almost ran me off the road this afternoon…" She whispered her eyes wide with shock. "But it was going in the totally opposite way less than an hour ago…"

Tyler's face fell pale as the officer's and the Spencer Security guard looked from one another to the young couple. After a short moment of silence the officer looked at them and offered to give them a ride to Gloucester to see their friend.

Tyler nodded his head and he and Hailey headed to the hospital, hoping that maybe it wasn't Caleb's car. Though, both of them knew better, they knew that it was Caleb's car the moment they saw it. The chrome 20" wheels gave it away, and the pink lei that was hanging from the now crooked rearview mirror, belong to Sarah from a luau they went to a few weeks ago.

* * *

**Don't review... please... it kills me... (again with the reverse psychology... it's great.)**


	25. Secrets

**Alright, so here is the final Chapter of "Not the Way We Planned It"... the end of this doesn't really make me happy at all... but I was trying to make this chapter a reasonable size, otherwise it would have been twenty pages long. **

** As I said, there is a sequel I'm planning. So don't fret! We'll find out plenty just remember this story was about Hailey and Tyler, the sequel will be more about all the boys, the powers, and Chase... woohoo.**

** Last but not least, enjoy... **

* * *

**Chapter 25 – Secrets**

Hailey and Tyler ran in to the hospital asking for Caleb, with fear in their eyes they were directed to a hospital bed in the emergency room. Both of them rushed in to the room number they were given and saw Caleb hooked up to an IV, securely in the hospital bed.

He was banged up pretty bad from what they could see, he had his right arm bandaged up pretty good but other than that he looked to be in an OK condition from what they were expecting.

"Caleb, man… are you ok?" Tyler asked coming to his side.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Caleb asked in a groggy voice he looked from Tyler to Hailey. He noticed Hailey's agitated expression, she looked spooked by something.

"I was about to take Hailey out when the cops stopped us and told us what happened, I saw your car and asked them to take us down here…" Tyler shook his head.

"How are you?" Hailey asked carefully.

"I'm ok compared to my car…" Caleb winced moving a little bit from one side to the other. "Did you see who was in the other car?"

"No, when we got there we were more worried about you; they really didn't say anything about the other person…" Tyler shrugged his shoulder. "I suppose I could ask the front desk if they know who else was involved…"

Tyler lifted his chin and left through the door they had come through, "I can uh, go wait in the waiting room…" Hailey stated feeling a bit uncomfortable alone with a banged up Caleb Danvers.

Caleb reached out with his good arm and grabbed her hand, "Why don't you stay?" He asked.

"O-ok…" She nodded.

"Something's got you spooked, what is it?" Caleb asked as she took a seat next to him.

"It's just that…" Hailey sighed and looked at him. "The red Eclipse that hit you…" Hailey sighed. Caleb raised a cut eyebrow up at her. "It nearly ran me off the road coming back to Spencer from town about an hour ago… going the opposite direction of Spencer…"

Caleb's face turned pale as she looked up at him, "Maybe it was another red Eclipse…"

"Caleb how likely is that, it's so freaky…" She stated in a whispering tone.

"Coincidence…" Caleb stated shaking his head softly.

"What's a coincidence?" Tyler asked coming back in to the room.

"The red Eclipse…" Caleb stated looking up at Tyler who seemed a bit puzzled.

"Yeah, he's probably right babe… just a coincidence…" Tyler nodded.

"So did you find anything out?" Caleb asked.

Tyler shrugged, "They said you were the only person that they've gotten from a crash tonight…" Tyler sighed. "I'm not sure who or what happened to the other person. Maybe we can ask one of the cops when we get back to school…"

"True," Caleb nodded.

"I called everyone else; they're on their way up here…" Tyler stated.

"God, Sarah's gonna freak…" Caleb sighed resting back in to his pillows.

"I would freak out too if I were her…" Hailey offered.

"She has a tendency to make a bigger deal out of things then they are…" Caleb explained.

"Caleb, you're in a hospital bed, all banged up and bandaged… that's a pretty big deal…" Hailey argued back.

Caleb forced a smile and slapped Tyler on the shoulder, "That's your girlfriend." He pointed out.

"And damn proud of it…" Tyler smiled back wrapping his arm around Hailey. "We'll go wait out there we got reamed for barging in back here, so we'll let Pogue and Sarah come see you next…" Tyler gave his best friend their little hand shake and lead Hailey out to the waiting room.

Hailey stole a glance over her shoulder and saw a worried look replace the melancholy look that was once on his face. She furrowed her brow and wondered what could have the dark haired boy so worked up. Of course the accident could do it, but he had been like this for the last couple of weeks.

She glanced up at the ceiling and started thinking, it all started with the migraines. Those severe migraines that he started getting that made him perspire without a second glance, his veins in his body would tense up and it would seriously look like the young man was having a heart attack.

The migraines started a few weeks ago, a few weeks ago… she thought back to what may have caused them. _Reid's birthday_, she thought…_No_… couldn't be that, he had gotten them before that.

She was deep in thought when several people came rushing towards them. Sarah's eyes were blood shot from crying, Pogue and Reid both looked deathly afraid of something and Kate was wigging out as she latched on to Pogue.

"Is he ok, how does he look?" Sarah rushed her questions at Hailey who snapped out of her daze.

"He's just a little banged up…" Hailey responded with a sympathetic smile.

"You and Pogue should go in first…" Tyler suggested looking at his best friends.

Pogue nodded and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. She rested her blond head on his shoulder and they walked back to the ER room that Caleb was currently residing in. Kate started crying and Tyler got up and wrapped his arms around her to calm her down.

Hailey rose an eyebrow up at the hysterical girl and Reid came and walked over to her pulling her up in to his arms. He hugged her tightly and she could feel moisture on her neck as he laid his head in the crook of her neck.

She instinctively felt bad, she rubbed Reid's back comforting him with the usual 'Everything will be ok' and 'Caleb's strong' and the like. She didn't think he was hurt so badly to make everyone this distraught.

Hailey pulled away from Reid and the blonde boy refused to look up at her, "Reid, are you ok?" She asked.

Reid shook his head, "This happened to Pogue about six months ago when he was on his bike…" Reid sighed. "Scared the shit out of all of us… he was in intensive care for a week…"

"Caleb's ok though, just scraped up and a bandaged arm from what I could see… he was really lucky…" Hailey whispered.

"God, I feel like such a pussy…" He rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands.

"Don't say that… you're concerned about Caleb, there is nothing wrong with that…" Hailey defended him.

Reid let out a small laugh and looked up at Hailey, she had never seen Reid like this, so vulnerable. She put her arms around him and hugged him again, he had become one of her best friends and she couldn't stand to see him hurting.

Tyler sat Kate down and Reid finally pulled away from Hailey and took a seat next to his two best friends. They sat there until Pogue and Sarah came back and Kate and Reid went back to see Caleb.

Hailey comforted Sarah for a little while and the group went back to sitting around quietly, not talking to each other, barely looking at each other and soon Sarah went back to stay with Caleb, who called his mother and she rushed down as soon as she could get dressed.

Evelyn Danvers flew through the doors and spoke with the doctors and nurses and soon was escorted back to her son's room. Hailey watched the woman intently as she walked by swiftly, she was beautiful, and she could definitely see the resemblance. Evelyn's dark hair was pulled back in to a neat bun, her make up was perfectly done and her green eyes stood vibrantly out with her green outfit that looked absolutely perfect on her.

Hailey resumed her earlier thoughts, of Caleb's migraines. They had started over six months ago, apparently, before Pogue's accident she presumed. Six months ago…

_Chase…_

Was Hailey's only thought. Did Chase have something to do with this? Could he cause this kind of damage? Could he have somehow caused Caleb's migraines? Was that even possible for a teenaged boy to do?

She pieced it together; Chase had started the school year at Spencer, around when Caleb's headaches would have started. After Pogue's accident from what she heard is when Caleb and Chase had their huge blow out, and Chase disappeared for a while. Six months later Chase meets her and Caleb starts having headaches.

Everyone had started acting weird after she told Reid and Tyler about her meeting the new guy Chase, that they used to be friends with. Had they really been friends after all? Or were they all hiding something from her?

She glanced over at Tyler and he was nervously biting on his bottom lip, her eyes settled on Reid and he was shaking his foot just as nervously. Her gaze settled on Pogue who hadn't sat down for at least twenty minutes. He was pacing back and forth, back and forth, Kate had tried to get him to sit down with her but he refused.

She watched him for a few more moments; he chewed on his thumb nail absent mindedly as he stared down at the linoleum floors.

He was starting to make her anxious. Just as she was about to tell Pogue to sit his rear down Sarah came back in to the waiting room and let everyone know what Caleb's status was. After his mother signed the papers he was free to go home, but had to 'take it easy'.

"Thank God," Pogue let out a huge sigh of relief.

"You ready to go?" Tyler asked.

Hailey looked up at him and forced a nod, the feeling that this could have something to do with her new 'friend' irked her beyond belief. She gave Sarah a reassuring hug and left after giving hugs to both Kate and Pogue and making Reid come drive back with them.

"This is bizarre…" Hailey whispered looking at the left over area of the scene of the accident. There was still crunched metal lying around, pieces of headlights and glass all over the ground, it looked like a small tornado hit the entrance of the Spencer parking lot.

"Did you hear anything about the passenger of the red car?" Reid asked looking at Tyler.

"No, Gloucester didn't have anyone else there that had been in an accident…" Tyler stated casting a glance back at Reid who was sitting in the backseat.

Hailey caught Reid's shocked expression in the mirror; Gloucester was the closest hospital to Ipswich. It wouldn't have been likely that the passenger had been taken to another hospital. The next closest hospital would have been in Lawrence or Andover.

"Do you think that they were killed?" Hailey asked softly as Tyler parked the Hummer.

"I would think that the cops would have told us that, don't you?" Tyler asked.

"What if he didn't die until they were on their way?" Hailey asked.

Tyler nodded and Reid slung an arm around her shoulders as soon as they exited the car, "The only thing to worry about right now is that our friend is ok and he'll be back to school tomorrow to torture us…" He grinned.

"What happened to the sweet sensitive Reid that came in to the hospital?" Hailey asked as Tyler gave his friend a small smirk.

"I had a lapse in judgment…" The blonde grinned before opening the door for his two good friends, the couple walked in and Reid glanced at Tyler and lifted his chin, "I'll let you two be alone, you probably weren't expecting this to happen…" He stated jogging up the stairs to their room.

Hailey watched as Reid fled up the stairs a bit confused, "What was that about?" Hailey asked turning back to look at Tyler. He held out his hands to her and she took them.

"Well I've been trying to get you alone long enough to tell you this…" Tyler stated as he gave her a small smile.

"What?" Hailey asked her green eyes searching Tyler for an answer.

"I know it's really not the right time, and definitely not the right place, but I can't hold it back anymore…" Tyler placed his hands on her face, cupping her chin in his hands. "I love you, Hailey…" He breathed. "I've been trying to fight it, because I didn't want things to be weird between us, I didn't know if it was the right time… but I just have to tell you…"

Hailey felt a familiar stinging in her eyes and could feel the butterflies in her stomach as she leaned forward and kissed Tyler hard on the mouth. The young boy pulled her closer and deepened the kiss before he pulled away minutes later.

"I love you, too…" She smiled holding back any waterworks.

Caleb was released from the hospital that night, and was apparently babied by his mother and Sarah more than he could handle. He had a fractured left wrist, and just minor scrapes and bruises.

Things seemed to be ok, but the tension still lay thick in the air about what happened, and what was causing all the happenings around the group as of late. School picked up and Hailey found herself thinking more and more about what happened between Caleb and Chase, or even the group or Chase.

She bit her bottom lip and decided to schedule and appointment with the Provost concerning what happened to Chase. She walked in the door of the Provost office after being told to do so by his secretary.

"Miss Gregory, I heard you had some questions about a former student," Provost Higgins asked running a hand through his graying hair.

"Just a few small questions…" Hailey nodded.

"Go on then, dear…" He insisted taking a seat in his leather bound chair.

"Did you have a student transfer at the beginning of the year named Chase?" Hailey questioned carefully.

Provost Higgins looked up at Hailey, the name hadn't been thought about in nearly six months, "Why yes, Chase Collins transferred from Hastings at the beginning of the year…" The Provost stated getting up from his desk. He pulled open a drawer and looked through a few folders before pulling one out.

"Could you tell me a bit about him?" Hailey asked.

"Well from what I know Chase Collins was a handsome young man, was on the swim team and friends with Mr. Simms, Mr. Garwin, Mr. Parry and Caleb Danvers." Provost Higgins stated. "A lot of trouble happened between the group while Chase was here, they got caught fighting at Nicky's a few times, Mr. Parry was in a severe accident, and Miss Tunney was sent to Gloucester hospital the same night her boyfriend was."

"Do you know why?" The dark haired girl asked suspiciously.

"Anaphylactic shock is what I was told, spider bites of some sort…" Provost Higgins shook his head sadly.

"Wow, do you know what happened to Chase after he left here?"

"I have no idea, he really just _disappeared_ after the Fall Fest, no one has seen him since…" The Provost sighed and looked up at her, "Why are you asking Miss Gregory?"

"I ran in to him at the Starbucks in town, and somethings have just been… off kilter…" She suggested. "I just wanted to get some more details on what was going on…" She gave the Provost a steady smile.

"Well, let me tell you something _off_ the record…" Provost Higgins closed his files. "Someone broke in to the Admissions office and fiddled through his things…" Provost shrugged. "They found interest in the fact that he was adopted, and that his adopted parents died in a car crash on his eighteenth birthday…" The older man shook his head disapprovingly. "But there was something else… his birth name was Pope…"

Hailey looked up at the Provost and then nodded, "Thank you Provost Higgins…"

Without another word she was out of his office and in the library looking through books of the towns History. She had heard some talk about her boyfriend and his friends, noted the fact that people referred to them as the 'Sons of Ipswich' but she just took in to account that their families had founded the town.

She looked through some of the old books and found what appeared to be some kin d of answers. She sifted through the information lightly, finding something about supernatural powers, ascending at the age of eighteen, darklings and 'using'. It really didn't make much sense and she passed it off as nonsense.

She sifted through some more books and found a list of people who signed a book to have John Putnam vanished from the town. On the list of people was a woman, a woman named Agnes Goodwin Pope. Hailey wasn't sure if it was a sign, but comments in the book pointed to Goodie Pope having a dream where John Putnam came to her as an incubus.

_Incubus_, Hailey thought. She shook her head and closed the books putting them back on the shelf. This was all nonsense she thought again. There was no such thing as witches, and definitely no such thing as coming to someone as an incubus. That was completely absurd.

She grabbed her jacket off of the back of her chair and fled to her car. She had an inkling for some coffee all of a sudden. Hailey drove carefully down the snow ridden roads of town, finding her way to her favorite spot. Right in front of the Starbucks, and easy access when she was on the go.

She walked in and without hesitation Roxanne rang her up and started making her drink. With in minutes the hot drink was ready for her. She gave Roxanne a head nod and sat down in her corner, opening her book and calmly drinking her hot latte.

"Hello, Hailey…" Chase's voice flooded her ears.

She looked up from her book and stared in to those pools of blue, "Chase, good to see you again…" She smiled at him.

She wasn't fooling him, she could tell. He knew something was up, for some reason she could feel it in her bones that this was a bad idea to come here, but she couldn't stop her body from driving all the way up here.

"Shame about Caleb," Chase shook his head making himself comfortable next to the young girl.

"You heard?" Hailey asked.

"I did, news travels fast around Ipswich…" He stated.

"So I've noticed…" She noted giving him a small smile.

"I hear that you've asked about me…" Chase gave her a playful smirk.

Hailey swallowed hard and closed her book, "I brought you up to the Provost, to find out more about you…" She gave him an awkward look. "I was going to ask you about that, you said you were expelled…"

Chase looked down and then back up at her, "So I lied…" He shrugged. "We all _lie_ don't we Hailey?" He smiled leaning closer to her. "I know for a fact that you _lie_,"

"Nobody's perfect…" Hailey muttered.

"That's right," Chase smirked and got up. "We all have… _secrets_…."

"Chase…" Hailey stood up her book sliding to the ground. "What _really_ happened between you and Caleb six months ago?"

"Don't worry love, you'll find out sooner or later…" He gave her a wicked grin, placing a finger under her chin and bringing her closer to him. "When the Full Hunter's Moon rises…" He grinned. "You will get your answers…"

Hailey snapped awake, nearly falling out of her bed as she breathed heavily. That dream was so real, so-so very real. She glanced around the room and it was pitch black, the only illumination was coming from her lap top, which was open.

She remembered closing the piece of technology before she went to bed that night. She got out of her bed and walked over, carefully she glanced at the website page that was pulled up, and it was a lunar calendar for October 2008. She glanced and saw that in red letters on the fourteenth of October read, The Full Hunter's Moon.

October 14th, she knew that date. Why was it so important to her? She glanced around the room and spotted a picture of her and Tyler together. She glanced back at the calendar on her nightstand and flipped back to October 14th, 2007, there was nothing marked, but it was important… she knew it.

Glancing back at the picture of her and her boyfriend, it hit her.

October 14th. 2008, was Tyler's birthday… it was Tyler's _eighteenth_ birthday.

* * *

**Well you know what _not_ to do!**

**A/N: I'm not sure when I'll have the sequel up, or even what the title of the sequel is. I haven't finished the outline yet... but I'll be sure to put in the summary that it is the sequel to NTWWPI.**

** I also wanted to give a shout out to all of the readers that have reviewed, I appreciate it more than you know. It's really fueled the fire for this story and I couldn't have done it w/o you guys...  
**


End file.
